Mary Dana Hinton

Mary Dana Hinton began her tenure as the 15th president of the College of Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, in 2014. Under Hinton’s leadership, the College of Saint Benedict developed a collaborative strategic plan and dynamic vision to guide the college through 2020. In alignment with the strategic plan and her leadership, the college is successfully undertaking a $100 million comprehensive fundraising campaign. She also has led the process to implement a $43 million campus facilities update, enabling Saint Ben’s to provide premier facilities for teaching, learning, and women’s leadership development. Hinton is a member of the CIC Board of Directors. She also serves as chair of the Minnesota Private College Council and is a member of the boards of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Interfaith Youth Core, and University Leadership Council. She teaches in the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education doctoral program in higher education management and at the Institute for Administrators in Catholic Higher Education, and she is a faculty member in CIC’s New Presidents Program. Her scholarship focuses on African American religious history as well as on leadership, strategic planning, and inclusion in higher education. Hinton earned a BA in psychology from Williams College, an MA in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas, and a PhD in religion and religious education from Fordham University.