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WILKES-BARRE — It turns out Wilkes University is losing more than a president this summer.
The school has announced that Senior Vice President and Provost Anne Skleder will be leaving as well, to become the first female president in the 141-year history of Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia.
President Patrick Leahy himself, who announced last December he will be leaving Wilkes at the end of July, sent out a notice about Skleder’s departure. In the email he praised her five years in her job, leading “Wilkes through a host of academic and strategic initiatives,” helping “introduce more than 20 new academic programs.” One of those was the university’s first doctoral program.
Leahy also praised Skleder for expanding the school’s international reach through initiatives such as one arranged with Panama that has brought cohorts from the central American country to Wilkes-Barre since 2016.
Leahy is leaving to become president at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. In February the board of trustees named Paul Adams as interim president effective Aug. 1 as the board conducts a search for a new president. Adams is the vice-president of student affairs.
Skleder had become a ubiquitous sight at many official functions where Leahy presided, routinely off to the side or even at the podium. She has been a regular presence at a string of announcements and unveiling for upgrades an renovations to the campus in recent years.
“Please join me in thanking Anne for her leadership and commitment to Wilkes University and our students,” Leahy wrote. I also want to personally thank Anne for her unwavering friendship and support.”
