Dr. Michael R. Lovell is the 24th president of Marquette University, joining the university on July 1, 2014. Under his guidance, Marquette is focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship, and community renewal and development — all consistent with the university’s Catholic, Jesuit mission.

Along with his leadership team, Dr. Lovell is working toward implementing Marquette’s strategic plan, Beyond Boundaries, coordinating it with new plans for academic programs and campus infrastructure. The Core of Common Studies Revision Project is improving undergraduate education, and the Campus Master Plan is integrating academic, physical and financial priorities and will serve as a road map for Marquette’s capital projects during the next decade.

Internally, the university in 2014 created the Strategic Innovation Fund to discover and develop the ideas of faculty, staff and students. Through the first three cycles of the fund, more than $6 million was committed to proposals. In 2018, the initiative was given a new name, the Marquette Impact Challenge, to include the President’s Challenge, a partnership with the Johnson Controls Foundation to address a critical community issue.

Externally, business and community leaders in Marquette’s immediate neighborhood have come together to create the Near West Side Partners, a nonprofit focused on strengthening economic development, housing, neighborhood identity and safety. The external focus also has resulted in the creation of the Office of Corporate Engagement, a key recommendation of a cross-community task force led by Dr. Lovell.

President Lovell serves as co-chair of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Milwaukee Succeeds initiative and is a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Innovation in Milwaukee boards. In addition, he is a member of the boards of Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, The Water Council, BizStarts Milwaukee, Mid-West Energy Research Consortium, Milwaukee Global Health Consortium, Milwaukee Education Partnership and Scale Up Milwaukee. He is a member of the Council on Competitiveness. Dr. Lovell is on two executive committees, one for the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities, and the other for the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Along with his wife, Amy, the Lovells are leading the creation of Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee (SWIM), a community-wide effort to address neurological trauma.

President Lovell holds three academic degrees in mechanical engineering, including a doctorate, from the University of Pittsburgh. Mike, Amy and their four children are members of Holy Family Parish in Whitefish Bay, Wis.