New president to start at Methodist University in 2027

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — A new president has been named at Methodist University, officials said Tuesday.

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Suzanne Blum Malley was appointed by the Board of Trustees as the sixth president of Methodist University, a position she will assume at the start of the next school year, July 1, 2027, according to officials.

According to officials, Blum Malley will succeed President Stanley T. Wearden, who will retire in 2027 after leading the university for more than eight years.

“We are thrilled that Provost Blum Malley accepted our offer to succeed President Wearden,” board chair Timothy S. Richardson said in a statement. “Over the next year, they will work closely to prepare a seamless changeover to her administration. This extended transition period creates an extra measure of stability for the University community.”

Officials said Blum Malley is the current provost and executive vice president at Methodist University. She has worked in education for 35 years and joined the school in 2020 after holding administrative and faculty positions at Columbia College Chicago.

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According to Methodist University officials, Blum Malley holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with concentrations in business administration and cultural anthropology and a master’s degree in Spanish-applied linguistics and Hispanic literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned her PhD in rhetoric and composition studies from Northern Illinois University.

“I believe that ethical institutions commit to serving their students, to meeting them where they are, and to making every effort to provide meaningful, whole-person educational and co-curricular experiences that prepare them to contribute to positive change in the world,” Blum Malley said. “I see that commitment at Methodist University and I am honored to serve as its next president.

“I am deeply honored and genuinely energized,” she continued in her statement. “Methodist University has given so much to its students, its community, and to higher education in this region for nearly 70 years.

“I came to MU over six years ago because I believed in this institution’s mission and in the people doing the work every day. Earning the trust of the board and this community to serve as the sixth president is something I carry with genuine humility and real determination. I am ready.”

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