At the end of this month, Baruch College will say goodbye to Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. James McCarthy.

Dr. McCarthy was chosen as Suffolk's ninth president from more than 100 candidates competing for the position during a yearlong selection.

He will begin his reign as the new president of Suffolk University on February 1.

 "After over 20 years of experience in higher education, I wanted to do something different. It's very interesting and exciting for me to run an organization where I wanted to work with more diverse student and faculty bodies. I never know what each day will bring," said Dr. McCarthy.

He also mentioned that what made him stand out from this extensive selection process was his experience at Baruch.  Here he played a pivotal role in Baruch's re-accreditation, expanding online teaching and learning, and developing Baruch's 5-year strategic plan.

In comparison to Baruch, Suffolk University just started its accreditation process recently, and its online teaching was not sufficient.

"Suffolk University shares many similarities with Baruch. They are both located in the middle of a city. Suffolk started as a law school. Whereas, Baruch started as a business school. Both schools have come a long way in educating people for the professions," said Dr. McCarthy.

He joined Baruch in June 2007 from the University of New Hampshire where he was a Professor of Health Policy and management and Dean of the School of Health and Human Services.

Dr. McCarthy's main research interests are demography and adolescent and reproductive health. However, there is a story behind Dr. McCarthy's interests and career in the field of higher education.

"I actually did not plan to have a career as an academic. It was an accident that made me choose my career as an academic," he said.

After Provost McCarthy got his Ph.D., he got a job as a demographic analyst in Europe. At that time, he could not start his job because he needed a visa to travel to Europe. As he waited for his visa to arrive, he received a job offer from John Hopkins University where he started his career as an academic. This "accident" has made Dr. McCarthy an influential academic.

He received the Irish Top 100 Award this year, and has been named a member of the Irish Education 100 list for the third consecutive year. This list recognizes North America's top 100 education professionals of Irish descent.

"I am honored, surprised. And I am proud of my heritage," said Dr. McCarthy.

Likewise, Irish Voice Newspaper stated,  "We are indeed proud that we have been able to identify and acknowledge so many individuals who have put such extraordinary effort into educating generations of Americans from coast to coast."

In an email message to the Baruch community, President Mitchell Wallerstein informed the college about Dr. McCarthy imminent departure.

"While this is great news for Suffolk, which will be gaining an effective and experienced university leader with a strong academic and administration background, we will greatly miss Jim's talents and knowledge here at Baruch," said Wallerstein.

Provost James McCarthy holds an A.B. in sociology from the College of the Holy Cross, an M.A. in sociology from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University.

He has held various positions at the University of New Hampshire, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and Trinity College in Dublin.

"I want to bring these experiences obtained here at Baruch to Suffolk, create innovative ways of infusing changes into the Suffolk community. And I want Suffolk to be a greater institution," Provost McCarthy said.

As of February 7, Distinguished Professor of English, John Brenkman will become the Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Baruch.

"I am highly confident of John's success based upon his huge familiarity with the Baruch faculty[...] and perhaps most importantly, his high standing as an educator and a scholar," said Wallerstein.