Listen Here
By Andrea Hoffman
hoffmana1@findlay.edu
After 16 years of transformative leadership, University of Findlay President Dr. Katherine Fell has announced she will retire at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
Fell, who became the University’s 17th president in 2010, said her tenure was a “shared mission” with students, faculty, staff and the Findlay community.
“The first day was exciting,” Fell said. “Everybody was warm and welcoming. I was thinking this is a big responsibility, but having met the board and students and faculty, and great staff members here at the University, I thought this is not just my job. We’re going to do this together.”
Since taking office, Fell has overseen major institutional milestones, including two comprehensive fundraising campaigns, the creation of the Center for Student Life and College of Business (CBSL), Dick Strahm Champions Field, and the Conda STEAM Education Center. She said these projects symbolize Findlay’s mission of connection and community.
“They’re gathering places, and they’re places of education, they’re places of entertainment, places to break bread together,” Fell said. “The STEAM Center is a wonderful example of what the University does well. It is an opportunity to educate people off campus, young children all the way through high school, and, of course, our own students. I think that symbolizes what the University of Findlay is all about.”
Under Fell’s leadership, the University has maintained strong enrollment, expanded graduate programs and deepened its focus on experiential learning and student success. Fell says she is proud of the University’s progress in fundraising and community engagement, but admits there is always more to do.
“I didn’t learn all the students’ names. I wasn’t able to bring to Findlay all of the great speakers I would have liked to, or all of the great opportunities for research,” Fell said. “I still have those aspirations for the University, even if I’m not the leader.”
As the University prepares for the next phase, Fell said her remaining months will focus on completing the Together We Will campaign and implementing a new budgeting model designed to give campus leaders more transparency and flexibility.
“This is a transition year,” Fell said. “In our move toward a new budget model, where everyone on campus who is a budget handler, not just the cabinet and the president, has full information about the budget that he or she is responsible for, and can then work within that budget, and feel informed and empowered.”
Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn, who was a freshman during Fell’s first year, said Fell’s leadership has a lasting influence on both the University and the city.
“Dr. Fell is an incredible woman. She is intelligent, thoughtful, tough, and compassionate,” Muryn said. “She has been a friend and mentor, talking through the vision of the Findlay community and the University of Findlay and how they are interdependent. I am extremely grateful for her leadership over the years as she was rooted in giving students a strong education, positioning them for meaningful lives and productive careers.”
Muryn says Fell has supported initiatives that extended beyond UF’s campus, such as housing, flood mitigation and parks in Findlay.
As her June 2026 retirement approaches, Fell said she looks forward to spending time with her husband, children and 10 grandchildren, while still staying connected to the community she has called home for the last 16 years.
“I’m not seeking another position, but I’ll be involved wherever I can be of help,” Fell said. “I’ll cry. It will be hard to walk through that wonderful ceremony for the last time. But I will also rejoice with the University because I am confident that the university will attract a great new leader.”
**You can watch the entire interview with Dr. Fell in Thoughts with Profs: Special Edition
