Nazareth University’s new president looks to expand academic programs in a push to boost enrollment, meet students’ needs
By Mike Costanza
Maureen Finney has big plans for Nazareth University.
“Nazareth certainly is a gem of Rochester and my aim is for Nazareth to be a gem nationally,” said the university’s newest president.
Located on 150 scenic acres in Pittsford, Nazareth has more than 160 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificate programs. It’s ranked among the WSJ/College Pulse 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S.
When classes began in the fall of 2025 2,430 students were enrolled.
Though it was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester, a Roman Catholic order, the university lifts up and supports all faiths. It employs about 1,000 people and will have a budget of $90 million in fiscal 2027.
Finney was born in Buffalo and raised in nearby Amherst. The married, 57-year-old mother of two grown children has multiple degrees, including a doctorate in health policy and education and is a board-certified physician assistant. The experiences she gained while acquiring her education and treating patients have shaped the way she sees herself as a medical professional, educator and administrator.
While studying for a master’s degree in natural science at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Finney took a part-time job as an HIV/AIDS counselor. Night after night she answered calls on a hotline from people who wanted to know their risk of exposure to the dread disease and the ways they could avoid contracting it. She became adept at connecting with the members of that vulnerable group and learned something about herself in the process.
“That showed me that I loved the intersection of my knowledge of science and my commitment to humanity,” she said.
Upon graduating from the University at Buffalo, Finney enrolled in the physician assistant program at D’Youville University, a small private institution in Buffalo. After obtaining a degree in that field she took a job at the Erie County Medical Center treating patients who were from underserved populations and on Medicaid. The position allowed her to see how their social circumstances affected their health.
“I do think it helped to cultivate even more empathy in me,” she said.
About three years later, D’Youville offered her a full-time position on the faculty of its PA program, with the understanding that she could continue to treat her patients one day a week. Over about the following 20 years she advanced to positions of increasing responsibilities at the university while taking on various projects. She was the driving force behind the creation of D’Youville’s Health Professions Hub.
“It was one of my flagships, most proud moments to be able to lead that,” she said.
Located in a three-story building on the west side of Buffalo, the hub has teaching and learning spaces and a state-of-the-art simulation center where health profession students can practice their clinical skills. It also has a community health clinic, pharmacy and other features.
Finney had risen to become the dean of D’Youville’s School of Health Professions when a visit to Nazareth’s York Wellness Rehabilitation Institute led her to consider moving in a new direction.
“They were providing and we still do, free healthcare services in PT [physical therapy], OT [occupational therapy], speech, social work, for those that have expended all of their third-party payer dollars but still have rehab potential,” she said. “That was a transformative moment for me.”
In 2020 Finney left D’Youville to become the provost and executive vice president at Hilbert College, a small private institution in Hamburg. When the provost’s position opened at Nazareth, she applied for it and was hired. Her new job’s demands prevented her from seeing patients but allowed her to work on starting the university’s PA program.
“As soon as my feet hit the ground in 2022, I started planning for it,” she said. “PA accreditation is very rigorous and so while the outcome is important, the thoughtful planning leading up to it is even more important.”
The Physician Assistant Master of Science program took on its first group of 30 students in January. Nazareth is already recruiting additional students for the two-year program and under Finney’s guidance is trying to further expand its catalogue of health care programs.
“We have a nurse practitioner program currently at New York state under review and soon a doctor of social work program, too,” she said.
It also added a Master of Science in Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence program to its catalogue. While the new offerings could help make Nazareth the world-class gem Finney desires, the university is facing some challenges.
Enrollments have trended downward for several years, falling from a high of 2,987 students in the fall of 2018 to just 2,430 at the beginning of the last school year. At the same time the nationwide pool of potential college students has been shrinking and is projected to continue to fall. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education projected a 13% decline in the population of US high school graduates by 2041. New York state is projected to experience a 27% drop.
Finney believes Nazareth can overcome those hurdles by offering more instructional programs, like those it recently started, that meet students’ needs and the demands of the higher education market.
“We’ll be able to recruit from areas that maybe don’t experience a demographic decline like New York state,” she said. “I have every faith and confidence in that.”
She’s looking forward to helping Nazareth grow in the coming years.
“To say that every day when I drive on campus I feel deeply blessed is an understatement,” she said.