Dr. Mark Richard Ginsberg was recently named the next president of Towson University, the state’s second largest public university.
A resident of Takoma Park who grew up in New York, Ginsberg has served as provost and executive vice president at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, since September of 2020. He came to GMU in 2010 as dean of the College of Education and Human Development, and is active in the university’s Hillel chapter.
Ginsberg begins his tenure on Oct. 30 as the 15th president in TU’s 157-year history. He was selected through a months-long national search conducted by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents and partners at the Washington, D.C.-based Isaacson, Miller executive search firm.
Ginsberg succeeds Dr. Kim Schatzel, who came to TU in 2016 and left earlier this year to become president of the University of Louisville. Since February, TU Provost Melanie Perreault has served as the university’s interim president.
For more than four decades, Ginsberg has worked as a professor, psychologist and administrator in academia. He has published in the areas of education, psychology, human development and human services. In addition, he has lectured and presented at more than 200 conferences, seminars and educational meetings and professional development events.
“Dr. Ginsberg is an eminent, oft-cited scholar in education, psychology, human development and human services,” wrote Dr. Jay A. Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, in a message to the TU community. “He aims to enrich TU’s organizational culture and cohesion by engaging the community in candid conversations on issues important to the university and to higher education writ large; by centering the vision of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends, and inviting them to imagine the future of TU together.
“In this way, he plans to lead not just from the front but from behind, buoyed by students and colleagues equally invested in Towson’s success.”
Ginsberg obtained his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Cortland in 1975. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Pennsylvania State University. He also completed a fellowship in clinical psychology at the Yale University School of Medicine.
From 1999 to 2010, Ginsberg served as executive director and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. He was previously chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services in the Graduate Division of Education at the Johns Hopkins University and a member of the faculty of both the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine. He served as a member of Hopkins’ full-time and part-time faculty for more than 20 years.
“I am thrilled to join the Towson University community and work in close collaboration with the faculty, staff and students, alumni, and friends of the university as well as the University System of Maryland as we together lift TU to ‘greater greatness’ as an ‘engine of opportunity’ in its next era,” Ginsberg said in a statement. “As a Maryland resident of more than 40 years, I’ve witnessed TU’s remarkable rise in becoming not only one of the most respected institutions in our state but one of the best in the nation. I have been blown away by the energy, vibrancy, and passion that surround the campus and by the unparalleled priority the university has in support of diversity, equity, inclusion, and a genuine commitment to ‘belonging.’
“I was drawn to TU because of its mission and everything it embodies: academic innovation, personal and workforce development, inclusive excellence, and community stewardship. TU is an engine for success for its students, the Greater Baltimore region, and the entire state. As we enter the next phase of growth together, I believe we have the opportunity, and a shared responsibility, to go from ‘great to even greater.'”
Ginsberg is a licensed psychologist in Maryland. His wife, Dr. Elaine Anderson, is professor emerita in the Department of Family Science in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland.
“I’m excited to welcome Dr. Ginsberg to Towson University, and I look forward to working closely with him as he leads us into our next phase of growth,” Perreault said. “Dr. Ginsberg is joining a very special university — one that is celebrated for academic and inclusive excellence. I know TU’s future has never been brighter.”
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