Marilyn J. Wells, Ph.D. began her tenure as Regional Chancellor for Penn State Brandywine, Penn State Mont Alto, and Penn State York on July 1, 2024. With a career in academia that has spanned land-grant, regional comprehensive, and private colleges and universities, Dr. Wells is a strategic and visionary leader who is bold and centered on people — with a sense of humor.
Prior to her appointment as Regional Chancellor, Dr. Wells served as Chancellor at Penn State Brandywine from 2020 to 2024. She led the campus to achieve Penn State Brandywine’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025: New Opportunities, New Stories, developed with broad campus and community involvement; Brandywine’s first-ever Strategic Enrollment Management Plan and the Chancellor’s Commission on Student Success by Design, resulting in a new trajectory of enrollment growth; and Penn State Brandywine’s long-standing aspiration to transition from the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) to NCAA Division III, the largest NCAA division.
With students, faculty, and staff the heart of any campus, Dr. Wells initiated new ways of connecting and communicating — walking campus, attending events, hosting open-door hours, and her “marilyn’s messages.” She inspired the creation of a new Brandywine Staff Advisory Council and invested in enhancing a world-class and diverse faculty across disciplines, leading to growth in academic and research excellence.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging have been a core value in Dr. Wells’ life and leadership. A top priority in Brandywine’s Strategic Plan, Dr. Wells introduced six new Chancellor’s Commissions on Equity by Design: Disabilities and Advancing Accessibility, Empowering Women, Interfaith and Spiritual Inclusion, LGBTQ+ Equity, Racial and Ethnic Justice, and Veteran and Military Success. The goal of these Commissions is to tap into national universities and campus organizations and partners to explore current issues, insights, research, best practices, and resources to create systemic changes to improve student success and professional fulfillment.
Dr. Wells advanced academic excellence with new baccalaureate degrees, minors, certificates, and curriculum collaborations aligned to student demand and regional needs. New programs spanned Computer Science, Cybersecurity and Analytics, as well as Project and Supply Chain Management. New faculty were hired for high-demand and growth programs in Biology, Engineering, and Information Technology, as well as programs in the Humanities. Of note, recent new programs were designed as collaborations across Commonwealth Campuses, contributing to access and affordability for students.
Dr. Wells also supported and invested in research excellence, as evidenced by faculty being selected for prestigious awards, recognitions, and fellowships such as the AAUW American Research Fellowship and University Summer Fellows for an intensive two-week summer grant writing that has been highly successful in increasing grant proposals to and awards from agencies such as the National Science Foundation. Under Dr. Wells’ leadership, Brandywine faculty and staff created a new, now annual Student Engagement Expo (SEE) that showcases undergraduate research, studio art, internships, capstone projects, student organizations, and athletics, including students from their first year through graduation.
Dr. Wells collaboratively led efforts to enhance the facility and technological infrastructure at Penn State Brandywine — creating innovative, accessible, sustainable spaces for teaching and learning, collaboration, research, student engagement, and more. Projects included a major renovation for the Student Academic Success Center, a new Sacred Space, a new Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station, expansion of the Campus Garden, beautification of the Vairo Amphitheatre, additional accessible parking and accessibility expansion, and more.
Another priority for Dr. Wells as Chancellor at Penn State Brandywine was increasing visibility and impact through expanded strategic partnerships with business and industry, community and civic, and higher education and K-12 partners. For example, the Brandywine LaunchBox was created to provide programs and resources for early-stage entrepreneurs, small business owners, and creatives, both on campus and in the community. She was elected to the Board of Directors for Family Support Line Child Advocacy Center and the Board of Trustees for Tyler Arboretum. At the national level, Dr. Wells serves as a peer evaluator for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), recognized by the United States Department of Education to conduct accreditation activities for institutions of higher education.
Dr. Wells’ focus on cultivating and stewarding corporate, community, and alumni relationships contributed to philanthropy with impact. Since 2020, Penn State Brandywine increased its endowment and surpassed Penn State Brandywine’s goal for A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence with the highest performance (273% of goal) on the campaign imperative for student support, impacting generations to come, and attained the largest named gift in the campus’ 56-year history, the Wilbur C. and Betty Lea Henderson Foundation Scholarship, to support veterans and families.
Prior to Penn State Brandywine, Dr. Wells served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Minnesota State University, Mankato, the second-largest public university in Minnesota serving ~18,000 students annually. Selected achievements included development of the University’s first-ever, integrated Academic Master Plan 2015 - 2018: An Intentional Path Forward. One unanticipated outcome was the ascension of overarching Areas of Distinction — academic, research, industry. These Areas of Distinction, which aligned with industry sectors and society’s grand challenges, came to life spurring curricular and learning innovations, increasing external grants, and expanding strategic partnerships.
Dr. Wells also charged a 36-member representative campus workgroup to develop a comprehensive and integrated Graduate Enrollment Management Plan 2019 – 2021 to increase total graduate student enrollment and diversity, increase enrollment in graduate programs with capacity and demand, and grow resources. Many additional accomplishments spanned diversity, equity, and inclusion; global education and impact; and sound financial leadership and growth.
Dr. Wells also had the privilege to appoint the University’s first interim Dean of International Affairs, who in his first year led, collaboratively with the Global Education Advisory Committee, development of the International Affairs Strategic Plan 2014 – 2019. In the first two years of implementation, international student enrollment increased by 24 percent, international-sponsored student enrollment increased by 65 percent, and faculty-led study abroad programs increased by 20 percent.
Prior to joining Minnesota State University, Mankato, Dr. Wells served for five years at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, where she held posts as Vice Provost and Graduate Dean, and Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, where her responsibilities were broad and accomplishments significant. During this time, Dr. Wells was selected for special appointments in the Office of the Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). In these roles, she led System-wide strategies across 14 PASSHE universities to reduce achievement gaps; enhance student success; and increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives.
Dr. Wells academic leadership is grounded in her rich experience as a faculty member for nine years at Hampton University, a private historically Black university in Hampton, VA. As a tenured faculty, Dr. Wells demonstrated a record of teaching, scholarship, and professional service, which she later drew upon to inspire faculty in the department to strengthen current academic programs, develop new academic and student programs of distinction, increase research and grant revenues, and grow community relations.
Dr. Wells has also held appointments at The College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, Thomas Nelson Community College, and the University of South Dakota, among others. Dr. Wells is unique in that her extensive career in higher education has been augmented by leadership positions in the corporate sector in the hospitality and health care industries, as well as in state government in public health departments in Pennsylvania and Alabama.
Throughout her career, Dr. Wells has received more than $2 million in external grants and sponsorships from agencies including the Council for Undergraduate Research, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Dial Corporation to support research and projects to advance tobacco use prevention, HIV prevention, and health equity. Dr. Wells’ research and demonstration projects have resulted in numerous professional publications, presentations, and awards. Most recently, she was selected to receive The Educational Policy and Leadership Center’s 2024 Alumni Award for outstanding achievements and service to education.
In her personal life, Dr. Wells’ pride and joy are her young adult son and daughter, Thomas and Michelle, and her partner, Roy. She loves creative pursuits, museums, and the theatre in her free time. One fun fact: she once went skydiving with the US Army’s Golden Knights.
Dr. Wells earned her bachelor’s degree in Home Economics Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), her Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Science (MS) in Health Education from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU), and her Ph.D. in Health Education with a cognate in Statistics from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.