Cabrini College names new president

Marie Angelella George, an academic administrator with a speciality in strategic planning, was appointed president of Cabrini College today, succeeding Antoinette Iadarola who will retire in July.

George, 58, who is originally from Wilkes Barre, has served as executive vice president at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH since 2003. She is second-in-command to the president, overseeing six vice presidents and the directors of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Campus Ministry.

Theresa Cavanaugh, chair of the board of trustees and the presidential search committee, praised George's enthusiasm for Cabrini's mission, her expertise in higher education and background in fundraising.

The combination makes her a "perfect fit" to lead Cabrini, she said, noting that the board voted unanimously to hire her.

Among George's achievements at Saint Anselm was leading a master planning process for the 400-acre, 60-building Catholic co-educational school, the Cabrini trustees said.

Prior to that job, she was vice-president and director of planning and institutional effectiveness at the University of Scranton, helping finalize the 20-year campus master plan. She also served on the faculty at King's College, and worked in human resources and education and training at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre.

George earned a doctorate in organizational leadership at the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree in counseling at the University of Scranton, and a bachelor's degree in mathematics at College Misericordia in Dallas, Pa. She is married to Francis J. George Sr., who prior to his retirement from Nabisco/Kraft Foods was a computer analyst and is currently President of FJG Web Design. They have one son, Francis Jr., who lives in New Hampshire with his wife Selena.

George will be the seventh president of Cabrini, a 2,300-student liberal arts college in Radnor whose national standing has benefitted from fierce fundraising in recent years. During Iadorala's 16 year-tenure, she raised $100 million for capital improvements and helped increase the endowment from $3 to $30 million during her 16-year tenure, and the annual operating budget from $12.3 to $60 million.

Founded in 1957 by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it was one of the first colleges to implement community service into the core curriculum.