After eight years at the helm, East Stroudsburg University President Marcia G. Welsh, announced her retirement on Friday in a statement to university colleagues and friends.

Welsh said, “I have sincerely enjoyed being a part of the Warrior family and know that, in my heart, I will always be a Warrior.”

President Welsh was appointed the 13th President of ESU in April 2012 by the Board of Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and assumed her role as the first female president of the institution in July 2012. Her retirement is effective July 31.

Welsh said, “I truly believe the future for ESU is bright and that the institution is well positioned to continue to be successful in serving our incredible students. In the remaining weeks and months of my tenure, I will continue to strengthen ESU by focusing on the goals established in our strategic plan, while also preparing the institution for a change in leadership.”

ESU’s many accomplishments under Welsh’s leadership include: the addition of 3D printing and additive manufacturing to the curriculum; the institution of two new sports to ESU athletics, women’s wrestling and acrobatics and tumbling; building a good neighbor program within the East Stroudsburg community which enabled administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, police and borough leadership to more closely connect to local residents and neighbors; supporting the incorporation of esports in the University’s academic research; the approval for ESU’s two doctoral degrees (in Educational Leadership and Administration and Health Sciences); the opening the institution’s Lehigh Valley Center in Bethlehem; helping to unveil the Philadelphia Multi-University Center; establishing collaborative degree programs with The Commonwealth Medical College and Marywood University, both in Scranton, and the College of Sport and Health Science at Ritsumeikan University in Shiga, Japan.

In 2014, Welsh was selected as one of the Top 25 Women in Business by the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal and as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in the Greater Lehigh Valley with special recognition in the Community Achievement Award category by Lehigh Valley Business. Welsh was also recognized with the Athena Award by the Greater Pocono Mountains Chamber of Commerce for her business and professional accomplishments, community service and mentoring of others, especially encouraging women to achieve their own leadership potential. In 2019, she was also named one of the Top 10 Influential Executives on Social Media by Campus Sonar, and she was the only woman to make this list.

Welsh currently serves the local and regional communities in multiple capacities including: the Northampton Community College Monroe Campus Advisory Board, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, Women’s Resources of Monroe County Board, and the Pocono Mountains Musical Festival Board. As president of ESU, Dr. Welsh is also a member of the Chincoteague Bay Field Station board of directors, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce, WVIA board of directors, and TecBridge.

She plans to spend more time with family and to travel.

She is married to Louis Terracio, Ph.D., vice dean of academic affairs and research and professor at NYU’s College of Dentistry. They have three children: Nate, Matthew, and Mallory, and three grandchildren, Giovanni, Harper and Logan.