Concord University history

Classes started on May 10, 1875, with 70 students.

Captain James Harvey French was the first principal, and he served until his death in 1891.

The faculty adopted it as the official seal of the institution on March 31, 1915.

The new President's House (1932) was built on State property with borrowed funds; Marsh personally paid monthly rent for most of the thirteen years he and his family occupied the home until the debt was satisfied.

Concord was founded in 1949 after WW2 by Mr Paul Oertel and Miss Monica Carr-Taylor, just outside Hastings in Sussex, as a small privately-owned language school.

The college continued to grow slowly and in 1969 upon the retirement of the founder Principals, the college was bought by Mr Frank Bell who had founded the Bell School of Languages a number of years earlier.

In 1973 the college moved again to its present site at Acton Burnell and a major programme of expansion began.

In 1983, in one of the most significant moments in Concord’s development, the college became a charitable trust.

Doctor Jerry L. Beasley, assumed the office of President on July 1, 1985, upon the retirement of Doctor Freeman.

In 1995 it was decided to open a Lower School to offer GCSE courses for students under 16.

In order to attract the most able students a substantial scholarship programme was introduced and by 2002 Concord was among the top fifty schools in the country.

Each year our Lower School continues to achieve outstanding GCSE results, the best in Shropshire, and now attracts top students from both the local area and overseas.With the retirement of Mr Morris in 2005, Mr Neil Hawkins was appointed Principal of the college.

Doctor Gregory F. Aloia began his five year tenure as Concord University’s president in July 2008.

In 2009 Concord celebrated its Diamond Jubilee and was honoured to be visited by HRH The Princess Royal.

Following the departure of Doctor Aloia in June 2013, Concord’s Vice President and Academic Dean, Doctor Kendra Boggess, was named the University’s new Interim President in July 2013.

Following her 2014 appointment as the 11th President of Concord University and first female President, Doctor Boggess, together with her leadership team, implemented systematic plans addressing political, structural, and resource issues.

The first of these is the Shanghai Concord Bilingual School which opened in 2017 and further are planned in the years ahead.

Boggess led university renewal projects that have driven over $3 million of costs out of the system restoring positive changes in net position and achievement of financial stability during fiscal year ending 2018, while advancing the University’s long-standing mission.

In 2019, Concord celebrated its 70th anniversary.