First Day
Aug. 1, 2011
Dear Marquette Faculty and Staff:
Today, August 1, I have the great privilege of officially assuming the role of president of Marquette and thereby joining you in the work of a place that I have come to understand and appreciate during the year of transition. This is a moment both humbling and exciting for me.
Since last August, I have been blessed to be the beneficiary of tremendous generosity, support and shared wisdom. Father Bob Wild, S.J., has been a constant source of information and inspiration. You know better than I that he has been an outstanding leader. His qualities as both president and pastor have been especially evident to me. Marquette and I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude.
This year of transition has been a time for review, reaffirmation and renewal. Those processes are hardly complete, however. Where there are challenges, I pledge to work with you to address them. Where there is success and achievement, we will celebrate together. Most of all, I promise that I will continue to listen and learn from you and with you as together we discern what Marquette's future will hold. In the spirit of Father Jacques Marquette and his companions, we have the opportunity to explore and chart courses that can change the way we shape our reality and Marquette's role in it. It is a grace for us to share in the work of this great Catholic, Jesuit university.
In all of the listening and learning of this past year, two Marquette characteristics have been especially obvious: the university's commitment to excellence, across the full range of its endeavors, and the importance of sustaining and enhancing a community in which all members can flourish.
Both characteristics are rooted and grounded in the spiritual legacy of St. Ignatius Loyola and the rich tradition of Jesuit education. Animated by these core commitments that account for Marquette's accomplishments since 1881, let us welcome what's to come as we work with one another in the years ahead, for the greater glory of God and the world's well-being.
Sincerely,
Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.
President
Marquette University
Office of
the President
Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., to serve as interim president
The Board of Trustees has chosen Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., to lead Marquette University as interim president. Wild, who served as president of Marquette from 1996 to 2011, will take over for Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., who announced on Sept. 20, that after 10 years as a university president at Marquette University and the University of Scranton, he was resigning to pursue other apostolic opportunities.
Father Pilarz will assist Father Wild with the transition, while traveling back and forth to the East coast to care for his ailing father, which he noted in a letter to the Marquette community on Sept. 25. Father Wild is concluding his duties with the Wisconsin Province and will take over as interim president on Oct. 16.
Wild will serve as interim president until August 2014. A new permanent president is expected to be in place for the 2014-15 academic year.
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