The first lay president of Marquette University, Michael R. Lovell, died June 9, following a three-year battle with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He was 57.
Lovell and his wife, Amy, were in Rome with members of the Society of Jesus and the university’s Board of Trustees on a Jesuit formation pilgrimage. Lovell fell ill and was taken to a hospital in Rome.
In a statement, the university said that Lovell’s decade of leadership at Marquette was marked by a “deep commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship, and community renewal and development — consistent with the university’s Catholic, Jesuit mission that animated him.
“An entrepreneur at heart, President Lovell pushed Marquette and Milwaukee to ask what could be rather than settling for the status quo,” the statement said.
Although he was president of a university with 12,000 students, Lovell continued to teach undergraduate students in a product realization class, saying that he gained great energy from his interactions with students, faculty, and staff.
That’s what motivated him to start a student running group, of which he was perhaps the most active member. Almost every Tuesday and Thursday, he met the group at the statue in front of St. Joan of Arc Chapel in the center of campus and took off for a run.
“Some of the best ideas I have occur when I am running,” Lovell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2015. “But it also makes me accessible to people. I’m a believer that when you lead, you have to be very present. It’s very important to me to have that.”
Lovell served on multiple local boards in Milwaukee and national higher education consortiums.
The university said that Lovell and his wife were “trailblazers in directly addressing our region’s mental health issues.” In addition, they were advocates for sarcoma research and awareness. In 2023, the Lovells helped raise more than $300,000 for the organization Stronger Than Sarcoma. He also participated in the Race to Cure Sarcoma in 2022 and 2023, raising more than $9,000 for the Sarcoma Foundation of America.
First lay president
Lovell became president of Marquette in 2014 – the first layman to lead the institution following 23 Jesuit priests who preceded him in the office.
Before Marquette, he served as the chancellor for the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and before that, as a dean of its engineering college.
When he left UWM he said,
“Those closest to me know how important my Catholic faith is in my life, and having the ability to integrate my religious life with my professional life is something that I always wanted to do in my career.”
Lovell received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Ph.D in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He served as Professor and Associate Dean for Research of the Swanson School of Engineering there, before moving to Wisconsin.
“A recognized engineering scholar, Lovell held several academic and research leadership positions at universities across the country and has published more than 100 articles in leading engineering journals,” TMJ4 reported. “Aside from leadership, his own research in the field has led to several technological breakthroughs.”
According to Marquette, Lovell held seven patents and 14 provisional patents. He was formally inducted into the National Academy of Inventors.
Marquette announced that university Provost Kimo Ah Yun will serve as acting president.
Lovell is also survived by four children.
And today we celebrate...