Francine G. McNairy

McNairy earned a bachelor's degree sociology in 1968, a master's degree in social work in 1970, and a Ph.D. in speech rhetoric/communication with emphasis on interpersonal and small group communication from the University of Pittsburgh in 1978.^[3][2] Her dissertation was titled, Black Students' and White Faculty Members' Perceptions of Black Students' Classroom Communication.^[4]

In 1973, McNairy became an assistant professor at Clarion University.^[5] She was promoted to dean of academic support services and assistant to the vice president for academic affairs.^[3] For three years, McNairy served as the associate provost and interim social equity director at the West Chester University.^[3][5] In August 1994, she joined Millersville University of Pennsylvania as its provost and vice president of academic affairs.^[5][6] During the fall 1997 semester, she was the acting president while Joseph Caputo was on sabbatical.^[5] She succeeded Caputo in March 2003 as the thirteenth president.^[3][7] She was the first African American and woman in the role.^[3] She stepped down on January 26, 2013 and announced her retirement.^[8][6] She was succeeded by John M. Anderson.^[9]