Academic Affairs Leaders
Michael Puma was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is a graduate of Fordham University (BS, Psychology & American Studies) Syracuse University (MsEd, Higher Education) and the University of Maryland, College Park (PhD, Higher Education Administration). He spent his first nine years at Loyola in the Office of Residence Life & Housing serving as both an Assistant Director and Associate Director for Living-Learning Initiatives. In 2011, Dr. Puma was named the Student Development Director of Messina. As Director of Messina, he designed and implemented yearly training and professional development opportunities for over 200 faculty, administrators, staff members and student leaders. Additionally, organized programming associated with the first-year Common Text, facilitated academic support sessions for Summer Orientation and Fall Welcome Week and served as a resource for first-year advisors. In 2017, he was recognized as an Outstanding First-Year Advocate Award by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. In his role as Dean, Mike works closely with the Academic Advising and Support Center, The Study, and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies to help individual students in their formation during challenging times and to develop programs and practices that raise the academic success of all students. At Loyola, Mike has also served as president of Loyola's Phi Beta Kappa chapter and is a member of OUT Loyola - Loyola's LGBTQ group for faculty, staff and administrators. He also is a trained Loyola Safe Zone and Step Up! Bystander Intervention Facilitator.
She is a successful entrepreneur and “intrapreneur” who started, scaled, and sold a financial service company that had achieved regional brand recognition and impact. She has successfully led both large and small organizations working with local, national, and international client.
She was the co-founder of Howard Bank. She was the Chief Executive Officer of Howard Bank/ Bancorp and Chairperson of its board of directors until its merger with FNB of Pennsylvania in 2022.
A lifelong banker with more than 40 years of varied executive experiences in the Maryland marketplace, Mary Ann led teams responsible for both Howard Bank’s organic growth and repeated strategic acquisitions that created the Greater Baltimore region’s largest locally headquartered banking company and Maryland’s third largest locally headquartered bank with more than $2 billion in assets.
Prior to Howard, Mary Ann was employed by Allfirst Bank. She served in a number of senior positions including, Executive Vice President for Regional Banking, Executive Vice President for Community Banking, Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning, Senior Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions, and Senior Vice President of International Banking.
Mary Ann is a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Enoch Pratt Library, vice chair of the Mount Saint Joseph board and a board member of Capital Bancorp and CapitalBank She is a past president of the board of Catholic Charities, past chair of The Community Foundation of Howard County and past chair of the Maryland Bankers Association , as well as a past board member of the Baltimore Federal Reserve and served as a Community Advisory board member for the FDIC. She also was a member of the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission. She is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Maryland.
Mary Ann has been recognized publicly for her achievements in business and for her works in the community. She was given a lifetime achievement award as the CEO of the year by the Baltimore Business Journal in 2022. In 2021, she was ranked as #14 in the Daily Record Power 100 listing .In 2022, Mary Ann was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce , and in 2020, Mary Ann was inducted into the Business and Civic Hall of fame by the Baltimore Sun, while and in 2018, she received the Industrialist of the Year award from the Baltimore Museum of Industry. She was named one of the Top 25 Women to Watch in Banking by American Banker newspaper in 2016 and 2017.
She received her MBA from Loyola and her BA from Seton Hill University. She is a Loyola University Alumni laureate and a Seton Hill University Distinguished Alumna.