Seamus Carey

Seamus Carey, Ph.D., serves as the ninth president of Iona College. President Carey is a national leader in higher education who has been vocal on the relevance and importance of a liberal arts education.

A Bronx native and first-generation college student, Carey earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Master of Arts from Fordham University, and a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College. He attended Harvard’s Management Development Program and the Executive Leadership Academy sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges.

President Carey has a long and successful tenure in higher education and comes to Iona College after five impressive years as president of Transylvania University in Kentucky. While there, he transformed the campus; successfully led the school’s commitment to diversity and inclusion efforts; and developed a mentorship program that connected students with alumni and the local business community, forging strong ties and creating career opportunities for students. Previously, President Carey led as dean of Arts and Sciences at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., for four years. Prior to Sacred Heart, he was chairman of the philosophy department at Manhattan College where he taught for nine years.

Throughout his time in higher education, President Carey has been committed to ensuring that students’ experiences include the study of liberal arts to prepare them for successful careers. He deeply values the liberal arts tradition and his passion on the topic can be seen in his many contributions to Huffington Post. According to President Carey, “That, in short, is one of the essential outcomes of a broad-based liberal arts education—to teach students to be critical thinkers, clear communicators and problem-solvers.” He believes that the liberal arts are most valuable when “they push students beyond the status quo, toward ideas, theories and debates previously unimagined.”

Additionally, President Carey has published three books, Growing Up with Your Children: 7 Turning Points in the Lives of Parents, The Faithful Parent: Discovering the Spirit of Purposeful Parenting and The Whole Child: Restoring Wonder to the Art of Parenting, all of which have focused on the intersection of philosophy, parenting and family life.