Caldwell University was founded as a Catholic liberal arts college by the Sisters of Saint Dominic under the leadership of Mother M. Joseph Dunn, O.P., with the approval of the Most Reverend Thomas Joseph Walsh, Archbishop of Newark, who became its first president. Nancy H. Blattner, Ph.D., OPA became Caldwell University’s eighth and current President in July of 2009. Caldwell College was incorporated on August 10, 1939, as an institution of higher learning for women under the laws of the State of New Jersey and empowered to grant degrees. On December 9, 2013, Caldwell College received official notification from the Secretary of Higher Education in the State of New Jersey that it had been granted university status. Caldwell University commenced on July 1, 2014.