As he accepted the Worcester Business Journal’s Large Business Leader of the Year Award, President Barry Maloney left no doubt: The most important person at Worcester State University is the student.
“They are our customers, yes, and they are also our cause,” Maloney said to a room full of business and community leaders at the AC Marriott Hotel on March 18 for the award ceremony. “Every decision I make can be evaluated by asking, ‘How did it help students?’”
In announcing the award, Worcester Business Journal Editor Brad Kane highlighted numerous achievements in student and institutional success during Maloney’s 14-year presidency. The university’s six-year graduation rate has increased 26%, and annual fundraising has increased 101.7%, all while the university awarded students $23 million in federal, state, institutional, and donor scholarships and grants last year. The president’s commitment to creating educational access for students, Kane noted, is evident in programs like Early College Worcester, which has enrolled more than 1,000 students from Worcester Public Schools and Veritas Prep Charter School in Springfield since 2019.
“When I started leading Worcester State University 14 years ago, I did not set out to win awards,” Maloney said, “only to ensure that we provided an excellent and affordable higher education opportunity.”
The WBJ event featured a video about each of the awardees. The video about Maloney featured alumna Maryanne Hammond, who served on the Board of Trustees for for 10 years; alumnus and Bay State Bank President Seth Pitts, who serves on the Worcester State Foundation Board; Professor Heather Treseler, a Presidential Fellow; and students Julia Shanoudy and Grace Gadie, both Presidential Student Ambassadors.
In his remarks, Maloney emphasized the university’s strong ties to the community, which was recently recognized with the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification.
“Some universities disavow their host city,” he said. “We know that as the city of Worcester goes, so goes Worcester …. We are an anchor institution embracing this city as we have done for 150 years, making it part of who we are: WORCESTER State University.”
Top Photo: Worcester Business Journal Publisher Peter Stanton (left) and Editor Brad Kane (right) presented President Barry Maloney with the WBJ’s 2025 Large Business Leader of the Year Award at an event on March 18. (Photos by Phil Smith Photography)
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