Dear University Community,
I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Vice Provost David P. Long, S.T.L., M.Phil., J.C.D.,dean of the Metropolitan School of Professional Studies (MSPS), effective June 1, 2024. The current dean, Vincent Kiernan, Ph.D., will retire on May 31.
Arriving at the University as a graduate student in 2012, David has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in each position he has held at the University since then. I have no doubt that he will continue to find success in his new role as the dean of MSPS, a school that holds great promise in reaching non-traditional students and exposing them to a high quality Catholic University education.
David currently serves as the chief of academic operations and oversees the activities of the University libraries and CUA Press. He worked in the Office of Graduate Studies from 2012 through 2019, eventually rising to the position of associate dean before becoming assistant provost in June 2019. He was later promoted to vice provost for academic operations and strategic planning in 2022. In that capacity, he assisted the Provost and school deans in developing and executing capital plans for the academic area.
In addition to his duties in the Provost Office, David is an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Canon Law.
His academic career includes a doctoral degree in canon law from Catholic University (2022), which he earned after defending his dissertation, titled "John Henry Newman, Doctrinal Development, and the Canonical Status of the Theologian in the Church." He earned a M.Phil. in systematic theology from the School of Theology and Religious Studies at Catholic University, completed graduate degrees in theological ethics (M.A., S.T.L.) and canon law (J.C.L.) at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and is a graduate of Georgetown University (history and American government).
David is married to Megan Long, who previously worked at the University as an academic specialist in the Department of Politics. They have two young sons, Caleb Patrick (3) and James Gordon (1).
Vince Kiernan - A Dedicated Dean
We are very grateful for the leadership of Vince Kiernan, who has led MSPS since June 2016. Under his leadership, the School expanded its focus on serving nontraditional-age students, particularly first-generation college students, people from underserved communities, and individuals whose first language is not English.
During his eight years as dean, MSPS developed new associate’s degrees in areas such as paralegal studies and management, and added new concentrations to its flagship Master of Science in Management degree. And during the pandemic, he also successfully steered the School through the pandemic lockdown and afterward continued to emphasize the availability of live and asynchronous online instruction. The School also developed a new operation for recruiting and admissions based on leads from online searches, which helped to boost enrollment.
To help attract more students, Vince successfully garnered new scholarship funding from a variety of sources. The school received a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to provide pre-college training and coaching to Washington, D.C., veterans who do not yet hold a bachelor’s degree. The District of Columbia government also selected Catholic University as one of three District institutions to participate in its DC Futures program, which provides scholarships for District residents to earn degrees in fields that fill the hiring needs of District employers. And with support from the Division of University Advancement, MSPS attracted a $3.65 million endowment to fund scholarships for undergraduate students.
In addition, under Vince’s leadership, the School assumed oversight of the University’s experimental program in Tucson, Ariz. In December 2023, the program graduated its first student with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with many more to follow.
Prior to joining the University, Vince served as an associate dean at George Mason University and at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies, where he led that university's undergraduate program for working students. He also worked for more than 20 years as a science and medical journalist; his academic research centers on science and medical journalism, more particularly on relationships between journalists and the scientific establishment. His 2006 book, Embargoed Science, critically examined news coverage of the latest scientific research.
Vince earned a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Maryland, College Park; an executive master's in leadership from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business; and a Master of Science in adult and continuing education from Kansas State University.
Please join me in wishing both Vince and David future success.
Sincerely,
Peter Kilpatrick
President
The Catholic University of America
“Vincent Kiernan has been an excellent colleague and dean. We appreciate his dedication to the University and his support of our students. I am indebted to him for his service and thankful for his friendship."
—Provost Aaron Dominguez, Ph.D.
"I am very thankful and humbled to be selected as the next dean of the Metropolitan School of Professional Studies. Vince has been a great colleague over our years together at the University, and his tenure as dean has left the school in a strong position to educate our students, both here in the Washington, D.C. area and throughout the country. I look forward to following his example of dedication and leadership during my tenure as dean."
—Vice Provost David P. Long, S.T.L., M.Phil., J.C.D.
“It has been an honor to serve as dean of the Metropolitan School. Working with Dean Long, the talented staff and faculty surely will achieve greater heights in the coming years.”
—Dean Vincent Kiernan, Ph.D.