Long, Dr. Marcus
Marcus Long is the 11th president of Mount Marty University, and in 2023 he became the longest-serving lay president in MMU’s 87-year history. He began his tenure on July 15, 2015, and has focused his work on increasing enrollment and student success, fostering Benedictine leadership principles across the university and in society, and partnering with other entities to better serve Mount Marty students and our region. From 2019 to 2023 President Long served as chair of the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, and he led the Council of Presidents of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) from 2021 to 2023. He was the first MMU president to lead either organization.
Since 2015, Mount Marty University has completed more than $20 million in new building projects, including the Ruth Donohoe First Dakota Fieldhouse and Rickenbach Suites. In addition, MMU became the first private university in South Dakota to offer doctoral programs, one for nurse anesthetists and one for nurse educators and leaders. The university also added football, archery and cheer and dance to its athletics offerings and completed its first major fundraising campaign in history.
Prior to joining the Mount Marty community, President Long served as the vice president for administration at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis where he led many of the non-academic functions of the university and coordinated operations with the adjacent Washington University School of Medicine and the BJC Health Care hospitals. Prior to his tenure in St. Louis, Long served 13 years in the chancellor’s office at the University of Missouri.
In addition to his higher education leadership work, President Long serves on the boards of both Yankton Thrive and United Way and Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton, where he became chair of the board of directors in 2023.
A native of Missouri, President Long has spent his entire life living within 30 miles of the Missouri River, which flows by MMU’s Yankton campus. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Missouri-St. Louis where he continues to serve as a volunteer mentor for doctoral students. President Long also serves as an adjunct research professor of emergency medicine at the University of Missouri where his research focus is on emergency medicine access in rural areas.
President Long and his wife Lisa have adult twin sons, one of whom lives in Colorado with his wife, and one who lives in Missouri. He is a Benedictine oblate at Sacred Heart Monastery in Yankton.