Marquette University President Michael Lovell dies at 57

Marquette University President Michael Lovell died in Italy on Sunday, June 9, 2024, after a three-year battle with cancer and a decade at the helm of Wisconsin’s largest private institution, the university announced. He was 57.

“President 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,” a university statement said. “An entrepreneur at heart, President Lovell pushed Marquette and Milwaukee to ask what could be rather than settling for the status quo.”

Lovell was the first lay president in the Jesuit school’s 133-year history and deeply committed to his faith.

He was recently in Rome on a Jesuit formation pilgrimage with his wife, members of the Society of Jesus, and the university’s Board of Trustees when he became sick. He was transported to a hospital in Rome.

Lovell revealed he was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, in September 2021. He began chemotherapy shortly after his diagnosis and continued working, even through the challenge of running a 12,000-student university during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He arrived in Milwaukee in 2008 to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. By 2010, Lovell was promoted to interim UWM chancellor, and by 2011, he had the permanent position.

Throughout Lovell’s presidency, he attended hundreds of campus events each year, Marquette officials said. He taught a Product Realization class several times, saying he gained great energy from interacting with students and faculty.

The diagnosis strengthened Lovell’s relationship with God, he told the Wire. It made him better appreciate birthdays and prompted him to dust off his bucket list.

Lovell and his wife had planned to travel to Portugal in June 2024 to walk the El Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route leading to the shrine of the apostle James. Next month, he had planned to participate in Milwaukee’s 5K “Race to Cure Sarcoma.”

Lovell is survived by his wife, Amy, and their four children. Planning for a campus prayer vigil is underway. Funeral arrangements will be shared at today.marquette.edu.