Education: PhD, Seton Hall University; M.Ed., University of Massachusetts-Lowell; B.A., Saint Anselm College
419-824-3809
mwold@lourdes.edu
William J. Bisset, PhD, assumed the role of 12th president of Lourdes University on June 6, 2023 and was officially installed by the University’s Board of Trustees and the Sisters of Saint Francis of Sylvania, Ohio at his inauguration on October 28, 2023.
Prior to assuming the presidency at Lourdes, Dr. William J. Bisset held several key senior level enrollment management and student affairs positions at nationally recognized Catholic colleges and University throughout the United States during a career in Catholic higher education that has spanned thirty-six years.
Under his leadership as Vice President for Enrollment Management at Manhattan College (Bronx, NY) and Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Marymount University (Arlington, VA), both institutions experienced record growth in their undergraduate and graduate applicant pools and overall student enrollment while remaining faithful to their mission-centric commitments of serving diverse students and families of modest financial means.
His innovative initiatives helped make Manhattan one of the most ethnically diverse Catholic colleges in the United States and Marymount the only federally designated Hispanic-serving institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In addition to a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Higher Education Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University, Dr. Bisset received a Master of Education degree in Educational Administration, Policy, and Planning from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Saint Anselm College.
In the first year of his presidency at Lourdes University, Dr. Bisset has established community partnerships and articulation agreements with Owens Community College, Davis Unievrsity, The Maritime Marine Academy of Toledo, Ohio and was instrumental in bringing to Lourdes the recently launched Junior Achievement of Northwest Ohio’s 5th Year Program, a nationally recognized nine month immersion program based on the Lourdes University campus that allows recent high school graduates to explore professional opportunities before committing to a career or higher education path.
This past year, Dr. Bisset expanded both undergraduate and graduate program offerings by reintroducing the University’s Master’s Degree in Organization Leadership as well as Lourdes’ undergraduate Environmental Studies program and by adding new undergraduate majors in Business Analytics, Data Science, Supply Chain Management and Cybersecurity.
In October 2023, Dr. Bisset publicly announced Lourdes University’s commitment to becoming a Laudato Si’ University during the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This decision highlighted the deep-rooted dedication of the Sisters of St. Francis to Pope Francis’ Encyclical and made Lourdes a member of a global network of Catholic Colleges and Universities who dedicate time and resources in addressing environmental challenges. The process will take place over the next seven years and will ultimately result in official recognition by the Vatican for Lourdes as a Laudato Si’ University.
In 2016, Dr. Bisset was awarded the prestigious Lasallian Medal by the Board of Trustees at LaSalle Academy in New York City. The Lasallian Medal represents the school’s highest honor and recognized Bisset for his dedication and commitment to Catholic education in New York City and for providing opportunities to countless first-generation college students during his many years of work in Catholic higher education.
Dr. Bisset holds Board positions with the Sylvania Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, the Regional Growth Partnership of Northwest Ohio/Jobs Ohio, the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference and with the Consortium of New American College and University. He is also an active member of the Genesis Chapter of Legatus as well as the Rotary Club of Toledo.
Dr. Bisset and his wife Kathleen met as classmates at Saint Anselm College and have been married for thirty-three years. The couple has two adult sons: Brendan, an alumnus of Manhattan College (2018) and Belmont University (2021), who is currently an Associate Director of Athletics at Dartmouth College; and Charlie, a Policy Analyst for the United States Department of the Treasury and alumnus of both the University of Miami (2021) and the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University (2023).
