Biography: Dr. Mary C. Toale

The State University of New York (SUNY) appointed Dr. Mary C. Toale as officer in charge at SUNY Oswego, effective January 1, 2022. In this acting president role, Toale is providing continuing leadership to the university while SUNY Oswego searches for a permanent president.

Toale joined SUNY Oswego in 2014 to create and launch the strategic communication graduate program. Her commitment to teaching and learning began early and led to her undergraduate degree in secondary mathematics education at West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC). Her interest in pursuing graduate degrees led to her master’s degree in communication theory and research and doctoral degree in instructional communication at West Virginia University. Toale has been in higher education for more than 25 years, having spent the past 20 years as a faculty member at SUNY Oswego, WVWC, and Baldwin Wallace University, where she also served in leadership roles.

Toale has served SUNY Oswego in a number of leadership roles since her arrival in 2014, most recently as Deputy to the President, Affirmative Action Officer and Campus Safety Monitor. She also served as the liaison to the SUNY Employee Relations and General Counsel’s Offices.

She previously served as co-officer-in-charge for Enrollment Management, acting vice president for Student Affairs, interim dean of Graduate Studies, chair of the Department of Communication Studies, and a faculty fellow in the President’s Office. She is also a SUNY SAIL Institute Fellow working closely with the SAIL team to develop and launch departmental chair development programming.

Toale has published scholarly work as well as presented numerous scholarly and pedagogical topics at state, regional and national conferences; served on editorial review boards for state, regional and national peer-reviewed scholarly journals; and served as a communication consultant for local news outlets and working professionals. She also served as one of 30 faculty on the National Communication Association’s Lumina Grant project to create learning outcomes in communication and served as a member of the National Faculty Advisory Board for Lambda Pi Eta.

In 2016, the Eastern Communication Association (ECA) named Toale a Distinguished Teaching Fellow in recognition of her excellence in teaching and in 2017 ECA named her a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for her service to the field of communication. In 2007, Toale received the Baldwin Wallace University Strosacker Award for Excellence in Teaching.