President McCormick has devoted her career to education, institutional transformation, and community impact. At MICA, she is advancing an academic vision that positions the College to lead in the creative economy’s new golden age—where technology accelerates production, but human imagination remains the true differentiator. Under her leadership, MICA is renewing its fine-arts foundation while expanding career pathways in design, innovation, and the media arts through Creative Experiential Learning (CEL), an approach that moves students confidently from studio to society—turning ideas into impact.

 Since taking office, McCormick has paired that academic momentum with measurable institutional gains. She has guided the College through a period of renewed fiscal strength by reducing institutional debt and securing resources for mission-critical initiatives, while a strategic focus on access and recruitment has produced a steady rise in enrollment and student retention. She has also unified and elevated many of MICA’s individual offices and centers into a network of Centers of Excellence, including the launch of the Center for Creative Impact, which unites students, faculty, and community partners to address real-world challenges through art and design.

Central to her approach is a student-first culture: MICA as a safe harbor that celebrates individuality, fosters well-being, and invites every student to shape a life of purpose, creative fulfillment, and professional power.

Now, more than ever, creativity is the commodity that cannot be automated, outsourced, or depleted. Together, let’s invest in it. Let’s turn ideas to impact now, and for the next one hundred years.

McCormick previously served as President of Elizabethtown College, where she led the institution through a transformative period, securing financial stability and enrollment growth. Earlier, at Thomas Jefferson University, she was a key architect of the successful Jefferson–Philadelphia University merger and led major academic strategy initiatives—launching new programs, forging cross‑sector partnerships, and developing pipelines that connected learning to workforce needs. At Johns Hopkins University, she served as Chief of Staff to the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration/COO, and at Widener University she held multiple leadership roles, including Executive Director in the Office of the President.

A first‑generation college graduate, McCormick holds a B.S. in management and marketing from Saint Joseph’s University and a Juris Doctor from Widener University Delaware Law School; she maintains her license to practice law in Pennsylvania. Her guiding belief is simple and urgent: creativity is the one resource that cannot be automated, outsourced, or depleted—and higher education must cultivate it for the public good.

Read President McCormick’s think piece on MICA’s role in the creative economy and the College’s Academic Vision for the next century.