Current UD president Eric Spina will retire in June 2027 after serving 11 years in the role.
Tobias said the timeline to hire a new president is contingent on the search process, but the board expects to have a successor to Spina before he retires to allow for a transition period.
Interview process
Any person may apply for the presidency if they are Roman Catholic, including vowed religious men and women, Tobias said.
Tobias said the interview process will be “comprehensive and engage candidates in discussions about the university’s current standing, academic innovation, financial sustainability, and campus culture among other subjects.”
Enrollment will be part of the discussion.
UD’s enrollment dipped slightly last fall, led by fewer international students attending after the current presidential administration restricted some international student visas.
Spina announced in summer 2024 that UD was “intentionally shrinking back” enrollment levels by about 10-15%, to 2012 levels.
“This is partly in response to demographic changes, but it’s also a move to foster the rich connections between faculty and students, strengthen our already-high graduation rate of 82%, and continue to prioritize access for middle-class and lower-income families,” Spina wrote in a Dayton Daily News editorial at the time.
The archdiocese does not have a direct role in the presidential hiring process, Tobias said, but there are several Marianists on UD’s board of trustees, who will be part of the process. The Marianist Provincial Council will also be involved, Tobias said.
“Other Marianists in our community can, and we hope will, be participants in upcoming listening sessions,” she said.
Spina’s presidency
Spina’s tenure is long for an Ohio university president. Wittenberg University recently hired a new president, Christian Brady, who started this past summer. Previous Wittenberg president Mike Frandsen served the university from 2017 to 2025.
Wright State president Sue Edwards has been president of Wright State since 2020, and she is one of the longest-serving public university presidents in the state.
Key points in Spina’s tenure include founding The Hub Powered by PNC Bank in downtown Dayton, the establishment of the Greater West Dayton Incubator, building the Roger Glass Center for the Arts, and the start of the onMain development with Premier Health.
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