A former University of Notre Dame vice president will join the executive team at Saint Mary’s College on Aug. 1. Erin Hoffmann Harding will serve as vice president for strategy and legal affairs and chief of staff.
The university said in a news release that Harding will help lead efforts in mitigating legal risks and revising policies; growing the college’s effectiveness and relationships with the community; and implementing the next five years of the school’s strategic plan.
“As we navigate an increasingly complex higher education landscape, I am thrilled that we will have in Erin Hoffmann Harding a person uniquely qualified to fulfill the three elements of her position,” President Katie Conboy said in the release.
“On a personal note, when I arrived at Saint Mary’s in June 2020—that difficult pre-vaccine COVID era—Erin was incredibly supportive of me and of others on campus as we made many difficult decisions here and in the tri-campus community” of Notre Dame, St. Mary’s and Holy Cross College, Conboy added. “Her proactive outreach and her concern for our students and our community members demonstrated how much she valued Saint Mary’s as a vital partner in the tri-campus.”
From 2012 to 2021 Hoffmann Harding served as vice president for student affairs at Notre Dame and before that for seven years served as an executive in strategic planning roles at the university.
Since 2021 she has worked for global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., where she specialized in working for education, public sector and philanthropy clients.
She earned an undergraduate degree in accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
“I am truly honored by the opportunity to serve Saint Mary’s and to support both its distinctive place in the Holy Cross family of institutions and its inspiring mission to educate and empower women,” Hoffmann Harding said in the release.