Colleen Hanycz

Colleen M. Hanycz is a Canadian academic who is currently the president of Xavier University. She served as principal of Brescia University College from 2008-2015 and president of La Salle University from 2015-2021. On January 11, 2021, it was announced that Hanycz would become the 35th President of Xavier University starting July 1, 2021. She was the second lay person principal in the history of Brescia, a Catholic school and Canada's only women's university, and she was the first woman and layperson to serve as president at La Salle and Xavier. Early life and education Hanycz earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. She completed her J.D. at Dalhousie University. Hanycz earned her LL.M and Ph.D. at Osgoode Hall Law School while working as a securities litigator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and then as assistant dean and associate professor of law at Osgoode. Brescia University College In 2008, Hanycz left her teaching and assistant dean position at Osgoode to become Brescia's Principal, succeeding Theresa Topic. At Brescia, Hanycz led a strategic plan that resulted in an increase in Brescia's enrollment, student, faculty, and staff retention, and consolidation of academic programs. While she served as president, she taught in Brescia's women's leadership program and continued in the LL.M. program at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. Under her leadership, Brescia saw a 60 percent jump in enrollment to 1,500 full-time equivalent students. La Salle University In 2015, Hanycz became the first female university president of La Salle University. She was appointed to La Salle at a transitional time, inheriting a large deficit, prior mismanagement, and lower enrollment. In 2015, La Salle had a freshman class of 725, which was below its target. The 2015 freshman class was about 16 percent smaller than the 2014 freshman class of 860.