BC Trustee Marianne Short awarded
President's Medal for Excellence
Marianne D. Short, a respected Boston College trustee since 1985, was presented with the President's Medal for Excellence at the June 6th Board of Trustees meeting by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and Board Chair John Fish, in recognition of her 40 years of service to the University.
As a Trustee, Short served on the Executive Committee, chaired the Academic Affairs and Student Life committees, and was a member of two presidential search committees in 1994-1995 and 2024-2025. A 1973 graduate of the Newton College of the Sacred Heart, which became part of Boston College in 1974, Short received her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1976.
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After accepting the President’s Medal for Excellence, Boston College Trustee Marianne Short N.C. '73, J.D. ’76 is congratulated by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., as Trustees Chair John Fish looks on. (Lee Pellegrini)
Appointed a trustee at age 34, Short was one of the youngest members and one of the first women on a board composed of 12 Jesuits and 12 laypersons.
“Marianne has been such a devoted and wise member of the BC Board, always ready to assist and offer the benefit of her wide experience,” said Fr. Leahy. “We are grateful for her service to the University.”
Short was formerly the executive vice president, chief legal officer, and a member of the office of the chief executive at UnitedHealth Group for 10 years, responsible for overseeing all aspects of legal, regulatory, and compliance matters across the enterprise. Additionally, she was the chair of UnitedHealth Foundation.
Prior to joining UnitedHealth, she had more than 35 years of courtroom and management experience, including serving as the first female managing partner at Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney LLP (now The Dorsey Firm LLC), with responsibility for more than 600 attorneys in 19 offices worldwide. In addition to her executive responsibilities, Short was an active litigation partner and co-chair of the firm's Appellate and Health Litigation practice groups.
Following graduation from BC Law, and a brief stint as a special assistant in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, she spent 12 years as a litigator at Dorsey & Whitney. In 1988, at age 37, Short was appointed a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the youngest justice on the court. She authored more than 900 opinions in virtually every area of civil and criminal law. She retired from the court in 2000 to rejoin Dorsey & Whitney.
A Minneapolis native, Short has served on numerous local nonprofit boards, including the American Public Media Group, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Robina Foundation, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.
Short and her husband, Raymond L. Skowyra, Jr., a former technology marketing and business strategy executive, have been among the University’s leading supporters. In 2021, their $10-million gift to BC Law established the Marianne D. Short, Esq. Law School Deanship, with Odette Lienau becoming the inaugural dean in 2023.
Short is a member of the Council for Women of Boston College and a former associate member of the BC Law School Board of Overseers.
“I have such respect and gratitude for Boston College and have watched with admiration what it has become through the leadership of Fr. Leahy and former president Fr. J. Donald Monan,” said Short, whose son Louis and four nieces are recent BC graduates.
“But what excites me most is the next generation. I am very enthusiastic about the future of Boston College.”