Former President of Bentley University to take leadership role at national think tank dedicated to student emotional and behavioral health
The Mary Christie Institute, an education and policy organization dedicated to student emotional and behavioral health, today announced that Gloria Cordes Larson, JD, will chair its Board of Directors. Larson is a widely-recognized leader in higher education, business, and public policy who, for eleven years, led Bentley University where she incorporated emotional strength and mental wellbeing into the curriculum and culture of the nationally-ranked business school.
“As college presidents keenly understand, the mental health and safety of our students is a responsibility we incorporate into every decision we make,” said Larson. “It is so gratifying to now offer other leaders the best practice-sharing, convening opportunities, and evidence-based information that the Institute generates on these critical topics.”
“Gloria Larson brings hands-on experience and extraordinary talent to our mission to inform and support how higher education leaders protect their students’ mental health and wellbeing,” said Marjorie Malpiede, Executive Director of the Mary Christie Institute.
During her tenure at Bentley, the school achieved university status, further deepened its distinctive integration of business and the liberal arts, was named a Top 10 undergraduate business school by Bloomberg Businessweek, and was ranked #1 in the country for both career services and internship programs by The Princeton Review. In 2011, Larson launched the Center for Women and Business (CWB) at the university, with a stated mission to advance women in the organizational world. The Bentley Board of Trustees named the CWB in her honor when she stepped down from her role as president. While at Bentley, Larson also authored the book PreparedU: How Innovative Colleges Prepare Students for Success, published in 2016 by Jossey-Bass, a division of Wiley.
Before joining Bentley, Larson had a wide-ranging career in law, public policy, and business. She served as a partner and Co-chair of the Government Strategies Group at the Boston based law firm, Foley Hoag, LLP; as Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, and later as Secretary of Economic Affairs, under Massachusetts Governor William F. Weld; and as Deputy Director of Consumer Protection for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.
About the Mary Christie Institute
The Mary Christie Institute is a national thought leadership organization dedicated to improving the emotional and behavioral health of teens and young adults with a particular focus on American college and university students. Through convening, research, journalism and advocacy, The Mary Christie Institute has become the inter-institutional epicenter for new ideas and initiatives in college and university-age behavioral health.