ISSUED: 11 September 2025
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Dr. Mary J.C. Hendrix announced her plans to step down as President of Shepherd University at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year.
She shared the news with the Shepherd University Board of Governors in executive session during their meeting on September 11, outlining her departure in June 2026 — after ten years of service.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve the institution and work with remarkably talented faculty and staff to provide a quality educational experience for our students—the next generation of leaders and model citizens,” said Hendrix. “Shepherd is fortunate to have a dedicated Board of Governors, a remarkable community of donors and volunteers, together with supportive state and congressional leaders, and it has been a privilege to work collaboratively with them to advance the school’s mission.”
Board of Governors Chair, Dr. James Cherry, and Vice Chair, Mr. Austin Slater, said “We have appreciated the passion, leadership and vision of Dr. Hendrix and recognize the impact she has had on Shepherd’s mission and the community. Her contributions will long be remembered.”
Shepherd has undergone landmark transformations since Hendrix became President in 2016:
- The demolition of several major buildings
- The creation of additional parking lots
- The restoration of Popodicon house and gardens
- The upgrading of instructional spaces (still in progress)
- The establishment of significant new centers and institutes
- The construction of a major residential hall and a new dining and athletic facility
- The restructuring of the academic enterprise to meet market place demands
- The emergence of the Agricultural Innovation Center at Tabler Farm, including the newly built Agribusiness Center
- The collaborative development of an Academic Field Station initiative on a 65-acre riverfront property in Berkeley County – made possible through a gift from Drs. Bill and Bonnie Stubblefield
- The establishment of the Office of Sponsored Programs to facilitate the growth of the extramural grant portfolio, from $5 million in 2016 to more than $36 million today.
Hendrix is Shepherd University’s 16th president and the first graduate of the institution to lead the school. She earned her Bachelor of Science in pre-med/biology from Shepherd and her Ph.D. in anatomical sciences from George Washington University. She later trained as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School.
Before returning to Shepherd, Hendrix was president and chief scientific officer of the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She previously held leadership positions at The University of Iowa, Saint Louis University, and The University of Arizona.
Hendrix has served on the NIH Council of Councils, the National Human Genome Research Institute Council, and the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors. She is a past president of FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology), which includes more than 130,000 members—the largest coalition of biomedical research societies in the United States.
She has testified before Congress numerous times in hearings regarding the budgets of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Science Foundation.
Hendrix also co-founded and co-directed the Virtual Naval Hospital, a digital medical library created in collaboration with University of Iowa colleagues Drs. Michael and Donna D’Alessandro. The resource was designed to provide critical information to service personnel deployed at remote sites and was adopted by the navies of four countries.
She has authored more than 290 publications on biomedical research and holds patents in cancer diagnostics and therapy. Hendrix is the recipient of numerous national and international awards and currently serves on the boards of:
- The Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Health
- The National Disease Research Interchange Board, which she chairs
- Research!America, a nonprofit public education and advocacy alliance working to make health research a higher national priority
- The Chicago Council for Science and Technology
- Meritus Health and the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine
After leaving Shepherd in June 2026, Hendrix will lead the Scientific Advisory Board of TaiRx US, Inc., the pharmaceutical company that holds her laboratory’s patents. She will focus on advancing the company’s portfolio to benefit patients with cancer.
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