Dr. Lance Richey “passes the torch” to Sister Maria Gemma
FORT WAYNE, Ind.—The University of Saint Francis announced today that Dr. Lance Richey will step down on June 30 after three years as president. Executive Vice President Sister Maria Gemma Salyer, OSF, has been appointed as the university’s next president, effective July 1.
Appointed by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration—the university’s sponsor—Richey has served as president since May 2023. During Richey’s tenure, Saint Francis strengthened its academic programs, added new instructional sites, improved enrollment and student success, deepened its Catholic identity and increased philanthropic support.
“We express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Richey for his faithfulness and dedicated service to Saint Francis,” said Sister Margaret Mary Mitchel, OSF, provincial superior of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. “In recognition, we are pleased to award him the title of President Emeritus as he leaves the presidency and returns to the classroom to serve our mission and students there.”
The transition to Sister Maria Gemma returns the university to its traditional leadership model with one of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration as president. Richey was the first layperson president at Saint Francis. He has served Saint Francis in a variety of capacities in 15 years at the university, including professor, dean and vice president.
“President Richey has led with wisdom, generosity and a profound dedication to our mission,” Saint Francis Board of Trustees Chair Richard Poinsatte said. “We are deeply grateful for his leadership and the enduring impact of his service as the university has navigated much change and successfully set a new strategic direction.”
Richey shared his thoughts and appreciation with faculty and staff during a town hall meeting on campus today. He said this is an appropriate time to “pass the torch” to the next generation of leaders.
“Serving as president of the University of Saint Francis has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life, and I am eternally grateful to the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration for offering me this opportunity,” Richey said. “I am also grateful to our board, especially its chair, Rick Poinsatte, whose constant support and mentoring helped me every day on the job. I also want to express my thanks to the leadership team at the university whose collective wisdom has often exceeded mine. I also give thanks to all of you for what you do for our mission and students, and for the friendship and support you have shown me over many years.
“One could never ask for a better set of colleagues or a better mission to serve. Words cannot express my gratitude to my wife, Carol, for her constant support and patience—few of you know how much you owe her for whatever I have been able to offer Saint Francis over the years. Most of all, though, I want to give thanks to God for the incredible blessings he has bestowed on me and the entire university.”
Under Richey’s leadership, Saint Francis introduced a new mission statement that reinforced the university’s Christ-centered identity, acquired the Leffler Academy and added new workforce development programming, created a pathways academic structure, expanded to three new Indiana locations, increased enrollment, improved financial health and achieved record fundraising.
Richey plans to take a one-year sabbatical and return to Saint Francis as a professor of theology in fall 2027. “At heart, I am a scholar and teacher and there are still books to be written, students to be taught and new intellectual adventures to be lived,” he said, as well as emphasizing his desire to spend more time with his wife.
“At the end of his ministry, our patron St. Francis said, ‘I have done what is mine to do; may Christ teach you what is yours.’ That is my wish today for you all,” Richey said in his closing comments to faculty and staff.
Before being appointed executive vice president in January, Sister Maria Gemma served as vice president for Catholic culture and student life and dean of students. She was also the university’s Title IX coordinator and a member of president’s cabinet. She previously served on the Saint Francis Board of Trustees before joining the campus full time in 2023.
“I am honored and humbled to serve the University of Saint Francis,” Sister Maria Gemma said. “I look forward to walking alongside students, faculty, staff and alumni as together we advance our shared mission to provide an encounter with the heart and mind of Jesus Christ.”
Sister Maria Gemma holds a doctorate in educational administration from Indiana State University, a master’s degree in philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville and a bachelor’s degree in theology from Ohio Dominican University. Her previous appointments included serving in campus ministry at Saint Francis, women’s ministry at the University of Notre Dame, assistant director of vocations for the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, and as an educator and assistant campus minister at Lafayette Central Catholic High School.
Saint Francis will hold a presidential inauguration for Sister Maria Gemma on Sept. 3.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. The academic structure at Saint Francis offers seven pathways: Humanities, Faith and Liberal Arts; Allied Health; Business and Leadership; Creative Arts and Digital Media; Education, Human Services and Community Care; Nursing; and Sciences and Medical Studies. In addition to its traditional programs, Saint Francis delivers workforce development healthcare programs in Fort Wayne, Crown Point, Gas City, Indianapolis, Lafayette and online. Saint Francis Downtown houses the music technology program while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. A National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Five-Star Champion of Character institution, Saint Francis has 21 athletic programs boasting three individual and four team NAIA national championships. More than 1,900 students from a broad geographic region attend Saint Francis.