Mortimer Neufville has been named president of Coppin State University.Coppin State University named Mortimer Neufville president on Tuesday following a vote by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. Neufville has served as interim president of the historically Black university in Baltimore since January, when former president Reginald Avery resigned.
“Mort Neufville is the ideal person to lead Coppin at this time in the institution’s development,” Kirwan said in a statement. “Throughout the difficult task of assessing the university’s strengths and challenges, Dr. Neufville has brought great wisdom, insight and civility to the process.”
Neufville, whose term begins immediately and runs through June 2015, previously served the university system in his role as interim president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for nearly a year starting in August 2011 before Juliette Bell became president there last year.
The university had been subject to a review by the system’s regents that began in December as a result of, among other issues, Coppin State having the lowest six-year graduation rate of freshmen among USM comprehensive universities, declining student enrollment and concerns about the university having the highest expenditure per student for comprehensive USM institutions.
