Msgr. Andrew Baker, S.T.D., rector of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, has announced that he is stepping down from leading the seminary upon the completion of his second five-year term in June 2025. He plans to return to the Allentown Diocese in Pennsylvania for a pastoral assignment.
During the first nine years of Msgr. Baker’s terms as rector, the Seminary has grown to become the largest major seminary in the United States, The Seminary’s accreditation was reaffirmed by the Association of Theological Schools, and a Propaedeutic Stage program was established. The Propaedeutic Stage seminarians are housed in the C Wing of St. Joseph House of the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, with the facility, renamed as Rother House, renovated to accommodate the program.
In addition, Msgr. Baker oversaw the writing and implementation of two strategic plans with new vision and mission statements. He also 
managed the passing of Seminary canonical statutes and civil by-law establishing the Seminary as a public, juridic non-collegial person according to canon law and a 509(a)(3) Type 1 supporting organization to the University in civil law. This brought the Seminary Governing Board into existence.
“We are grateful to Msgr. Baker for his years of service and his deep love and dedication of priestly formation,” said Mount St. Mary’s University President Gerard J. Joyce, Ph.D. “Please join me in praying for the Search Committee as we begin our work and for Msgr. Baker as he continues his priestly ministry, both at the Seminary for the next 10 months and in Allentown.”
A search committee, led by Seminary Board Member Bishop Barry Knestout, S’89, of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, has been 
formed. Other members of the committee include five other members of the Seminary Board, including three bishops and a university alumnus, Mount St. Mary’s University President Gerard J. Joyce, Ph.D., a seminarian, a lay Seminary faculty member, a priest Seminary faculty member, a Rector’s Council representative, and a recording secretary.
The search committee, whose deliberations will be confidential, plans to present a recommendation to Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, S’77, by the end of 2024. The announcement of the next rector is expected to be made by February or March of 2025.