ALLIANCE, Ohio – Dr. Thomas J. Botzman has announced his retirement from the presidency of the University of Mount Union effective June 30.

Botzman has served as president of Mount Union since July of 2020, when he and his wife, Vanessa, returned to the Mount Union community they called home during his tenure as a faculty member and administrator from 1989 to 2004. During his initial tenure at Mount Union, Botzman served as a faculty member, directed international studies, and held the role of associate academic dean. He was a visiting professor and Fulbright Scholar at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Mexico, teaching there four times from 1992 to 1996. He also was named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow in 2002.

“I wish to thank the Board of Trustees, and the entire Mount Union community, for welcoming me back to the place where my academic career started,” said Botzman. “Mount Union has certainly grown in many ways since I originally joined the faculty in 1989. My total 17 years of service to Mount Union and our students will always be a cherished memory. May the future be equally as exciting and rewarding to our students and all associated with the University.”

A native of Stow, Ohio, Botzman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He went on to attend Kent State University, where he earned both a Master of Arts degree in economics and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in business administration. Prior to becoming president of Mount Union, Dr. Botzman served as president of Misericordia University for seven years.

The University’s Board of Trustees will immediately begin work to identify an interim president who can lead the institution during the 2022-2023 academic year. In addition, the Board will form a search committee to lead a formal, comprehensive, and participatory search to choose Mount Union’s 14th president.