Dr. Richard F. Giese serves as Mount Union College’s 11th president, a position he has held since 2005 when he and his wife Sandra returned to the College and the Alliance community they called home for 19 years.

Dr. Richard F. Giese and his wife Sandra

For eight years, Dr. Giese served as president of Monmouth College in Illinois. Prior to holding that post, he served as a faculty member and in increasingly responsible administrative positions for Mount Union, including vice president for enrollment services and vice president for advancement. He was part of the College’s administrative leadership team at a time when Mount Union experienced unprecedented growth in enrollment and endowment.

During his years at Monmouth, President Giese guided the college through enrollment growth of nearly 50 percent while increasing the academic profile and improving the financial stability of the institution. He also planned and implemented Monmouth’s largest capital campaign in its history and led a major general education curriculum review. In addition, numerous building projects were completed, including a library, athletic center, chapel, new residence halls and an outdoor athletic park. Following a successful tenure, both Dr. and Mrs. Giese were awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Monmouth in 2005.

His first job in higher education was as a faculty member and basketball coach at Averett College in Danville, VA. In 1978 Giese came to Mount Union as a faculty member and head men’s basketball and tennis coach.

Since returning to Mount Union, Dr. Giese has worked closely with faculty, staff and students to develop a plan for the future, featuring six strategic initiatives – develop a curriculum for the future, improve the residential nature of campus, grow the enrollment, enhance diversity on campus, increase financial strength and build the College’s reputation and visibility.

President Giese

Mount Union has experienced a growth in enrollment and the construction of state-of-the-art apartment-style residences for upperclassmen since Dr. Giese’s return to campus in 2005. In addition, the College has introduced new majors in intervention specialist (special education) and medical technology and kicked off the public phase of “Drive for Distinction,” a campaign to raise $80 million.

Active in numerous professional and community organizations, Giese serves as a member of the Board for the Northeast Ohio Council of Higher Education, member of the Executive Committee of both the United Way and Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges and president of the Ohio Athletic Conference’s President’s Council. He also serves on the board of the Alliance Development Foundation and is a trustee for the Stark Development Board.

Dr. Giese also has conducted research and published numerous articles on higher education in a variety of professional journals and publications.

His family is equally tied to Mount Union and the City of Alliance. His wife Sandra is a Mount Union graduate and a former elementary school principal in the Alliance City School system. She has also taught at both the University of Akron and Monmouth College.

The Gieses’ son Matthew is an Alliance High School graduate. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College and a medical degree from the Medical School of Toledo, completeing his residency in family practice at the University of Virginia. He and his wife Bela, also a physician, live in Charlottsville, VA. They are the parents of two boys, Jack and Ben.