Iona named Dr. Mark Kiselica as the new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Kiselica has spent 20 years moving up the ladder at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), holding the title of vice provost since 2009.

“There was really only one other thing on the academic cycle I hadn’t done and that was Provost,” said Kiselica. “Iona was the perfect place for me.”

After completing a bachelor’s in psychology at St. Vincent College, a master’s in psychology at Bucknell University and a doctorate in counseling psychology at Pennsylvania State University, he continued to develop an impressive resume of accomplishments.

To name a few accolades, Kiselica has been named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Researcher of the Year by the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity and the American Mental Health Counselors Association, and has received the American Counseling Association’s Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person.

“Dr. Kiselica is an impressive professor, scholar and administrator,” said President Joseph E. Nyre in the press release. “He is joining the college at a pivotal time in our history. As we focus our strategic efforts, he is the right academic leader to guide our community toward advancing student distinction, academic distinction and affordability, as well as elevating the academic reputation of the institution.”

His life’s work as a psychologist has been dedicated to the addressing the gaps in the field of boys, men and masculinity.

“I felt if I became an academician I could influence the entire mental professions on how they approach working with boys and men,” said Kiselica.

After authoring 150 publications related to these issues and influencing public policies and mental health practices, Kiselica said he felt as though he had accomplished his goals.

“I felt I needed a new challenge,” he said. “As I felt I had achieved those goals I had also concurrently gotten more and more into administration.”

“I have known Dr. Mark Kiselica for over 15 years,” said TCNJ President R. Barbara Gitenstein in the press release. “During that time I have been able to observe the growth and enhancement of his administrative and leadership abilities. Mark is a skilled and caring academic leader, an individual who can encourage the best in others while expecting only the highest performance from himself. We will miss him at the College of New Jersey, but I know that he will make a tremendous positive difference at Iona College.”

While Kiselica said he sees many similarities between TCNJ and Iona, the main difference he sees between the two is that TCNJ is a public school while Iona was founded in the Catholic tradition.

“I understand the essence of a Catholic education,” he said. “Here, it’s part of the mission.”

Kiselica will be starting July 1 and will be joining Iona in the midst of its strategic plan. Even though things are already underway, he said that regardless of the change in provost office, the community investment and campus-wide input into the plan is what pushes it forward.

“One of my duties is to understand all of the wonderful ideas and work that has gone into that plan and support its implementation,” said Kiselica. “[The plan] is going to help Iona thrive in what is a very competitive higher education environment.”

Kiselica has known about Iona since high school and says he has always admired its legacy. Raised with a strong Irish heritage, he will fit in well with the Celtic traditions of the college as he joins the community.

“It is a privileged life to be a leader at an institution like this,” he said.