Marquette University

October 8, 2014

Dr. Michael R. LovellDear Marquette community:

Friday, Sept. 19, was an amazing day during an amazing week at an amazing university. Coincidentally, those were words I used to start my address after I was inaugurated as Marquette University’s 24th and first lay president.

My family and I have been overwhelmed by the warm reception we’ve received and by the passion that the Marquette community has for this special place. The Marquette leadership team has been hard at work since I officially started as president just more than 80 days ago. You may have already heard that a series of new university initiatives were announced during my inaugural address that aim to propel Marquette forward and further position it as a leader in Milwaukee and beyond.

Future multimillion-dollar Center for Advancement of the Humanities
Among the most exciting announcements was the foundation created for a future Center for Advancement of the Humanities through a multimillion-dollar legacy commitment received this past week. It was received from an anonymous Marquette alumna who is deeply passionate about the humanities and a renowned research scholar. The center will bring top academics in the humanities from around the world to Marquette to establish the university as the epicenter in the Midwest for humanities studies.

The humanities are the cornerstone of learning at Marquette. While my field is engineering, I greatly value the liberal arts and humanities, and know they are why the U.S. higher education system remains the crown jewel of our country. I am fully committed to deepening and enriching the study of the humanities in the Jesuit tradition. With the foundation provided by this commitment, Marquette will become a beacon for scholars both nationally and internationally to teach, research and exchange ideas alongside our talented students and highly respected faculty. Next steps will include working with our faculty to develop plans for the center.

$5 million strategic innovation fund
Another announcement was the new strategic innovation fund, for which we have already raised $5 million to invest in innovative ideas and entrepreneurial initiatives that align with the priorities of the university’s strategic plan, Beyond Boundaries.

Innovation, I’ve often said, is in every corner of campus. I can’t wait for these ideas to take hold.

The strategic innovation fund will provide seed funds to students, faculty and staff to explore entrepreneurial ventures. University leadership designated $2 million for the fund in its budget. We were fortunate to raise an additional $3 million for the fund over the past two months with the assistance of Board of Trustees members, generous alumni and friends, including support from the Kern Family Foundation, and Donna O’Rourke and her late husband and long-time Marquette trustee, Jerry.

In addition to providing seed money, we will invest a portion of the funds to develop a university-wide infrastructure for interdisciplinary initiatives, as well as support discipline-specific innovation and entrepreneurship education across campus.

Forging new regional partnerships
We are expanding our role in the growing water sector by having a significant presence in the Global Water Center at 247 Freshwater Way in Milwaukee. Our region is being recognized as a world hub, along with Singapore and Stockholm, for water research, education and economic development. The Global Water Center, a 100,000-square-foot, seven-story building that opened in September 2013, is located about a mile southeast of campus. It houses water-related research facilities for corporations and other universities, and business accelerator space for new, emerging water-related companies. Our presence at the center will allow our faculty, staff and students unprecedented opportunities to develop water technologies that will change the world.

We also are exploring options to be involved at Innovation Campus, a 71-acre public-private research park six miles west of Marquette. It is being developed by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Real Estate Foundation and is adjacent to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, home to several significant medical facilities including the Medical College of Wisconsin, the largest academic research institution in Metropolitan Milwaukee.

Purchasing seven acres of property
Later this month, we will be purchasing approximately seven acres of land (about three city blocks) adjacent to our eastern edge of campus in the 800 block of West Michigan Street, just south of Straz Tower.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Marquette and the city. The new property will allow us to enhance the student experience and expand our footprint to the east. We look forward to working with the campus community in the coming months to develop the best uses for the land.

Avenues West Collaboration
Working with our corporate neighbors – Harley-Davidson, Aurora Health Care, Forest County Potawatomi and many more – Marquette is working toward revitalizing our Avenues West neighborhood. The real solution to making our campus safer is developing a stronger, more attractive neighborhood that becomes a destination, where people want to live and work.

Clearly it is a new day for Marquette University. At the same time, however, Marquette will never lose its identity. At our heart, we will continue to be a Catholic, Jesuit institution. In the spirit of our alumnus James Foley, we will continue to intensify our focus on creating future citizens who live their lives for others, work toward social justice and improve our city, country and world. We will judge our success by the breadth and depth of impact we make on the lives of others. My commitment is to relentlessly pursue excellence and success in everything we do so this university truly will be the difference.

Best,

Michael R. Lovell
President
Marquette University

PS – If you'd like, you can watch the entire inauguration ceremony webcast online, as well as three fantastic short videos that were part of the ceremony.

 

 


MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY. Be The Difference.
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881

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