President's Corner: Fall 2026

When it comes to presidential inaugurations, the work begins long before the ceremony. After leading at Endicott in various capacities for more than nine years, including as Interim President and then President for nearly two years, I was formally inaugurated in September. Inaugurations are an important academic tradition, and I was deeply honored to share that moment with our students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, families, and friends.

Now that the ceremony is behind us, I’d like to reintroduce myself to you and, more importantly, talk about where Endicott goes from here.

I believe deeply in this College and in what has made it distinctive for nearly 90 years. I also believe that honoring Endicott’s history does not mean standing still.

Higher education is changing quickly. Artificial intelligence is transforming how we learn and work. Employers are increasingly seeking graduates who can work alongside AI while bringing the critical thinking, creativity, and human judgment that technology can’t replicate. Students and families are rightly asking harder questions about the value of a college degree. And demographic and economic realities are forcing colleges and universities to think seriously about how they remain relevant, accessible, and strong for generations to come.

Endicott will meet those challenges head-on. Our new B.S. in Artificial Intelligence & Analytics Management is one example. We didn’t create an AI degree because AI is the latest trend. We’re doing it because these technologies are already changing nearly every profession our students will enter, and our responsibility is to prepare graduates not only to use AI, but to understand it, question it, and lead with it responsibly.

The liberal arts remain essential to an Endicott education, too. As technology becomes more powerful, the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, understand human behavior and history, and wrestle with complex ethical questions becomes more important. The future will require graduates who can pair technological fluency with distinctly human judgment.

That same thinking is also guiding a much larger conversation: the work of developing Endicott’s next strategic plan. And before we decide where we are going, we need to listen to our entire community.

Alumni have a perspective on Endicott that no one else can offer. You know what this College gave you and which parts of the Endicott experience have stayed with you long after graduation. And from your vantage points across industries, communities, and generations, you can help us understand what tomorrow’s graduates will need from us.

Tell us what we should protect. Tell us where we should push harder. Tell us how Endicott can continue to improve the lives of our students and the trajectory of their families. And, perhaps most importantly, tell us what you hope never changes.

Because while we are planning for the future, we will always stay true to our mission.

Inauguration and Convocation formally marked the beginning of a new presidential chapter at Endicott, but the work of writing Endicott’s next chapter belongs to all of us.

I am excited to do that work with you.

Sincerely,

Bryan Cain, Ph.D.
President
Endicott College