Loyola University Chicago Elects Mark C. Reed as 25th President

CHICAGO, IL – May 3, 2022
Loyola University Chicago today announced the Board of Trustees has unanimously elected Mark C. Reed, EdD, MBA, as the University’s 25th president after an extensive global search process. Dr. Reed will assume the role on October 1, 2022.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Reed and his family to Loyola and our great city of Chicago,” said Susan S. Sher, JD ’74, chair of the Loyola Board of Trustees and chair of the presidential search committee. “After a global search and community-led process, Dr. Reed, with his deep roots in Jesuit, Catholic education, mission-driven leadership experience, and belief in our student-centered ethos, was the clear choice to serve as Loyola’s 25th President.” 

Reed is the current President of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, a position he has held since July 2015 when he was named the school’s first non-Jesuit president. Under his leadership, Saint Joseph’s has strengthened academic programs, strategic partnerships, university finances and endowment, student formation, and advancement of the Jesuit, Catholic mission.

Reed has a long history and foundation in Jesuit, Catholic education beginning with his time at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. He then earned his BS in mathematics and MBA from Fairfield University, as well as an MEd in secondary educational administration from Boston College–both fellow Jesuit universities. He earned his EdD in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2017, Saint Joseph’s entered a long-term educational affiliation with the adjacent, internationally renowned Barnes Foundation to steward the 12-acre arboretum and renovate the former Barnes Gallery building into an art museum, teaching, and event space. In 2019, the university opened the School of Health Studies and Education, making it the university’s first new school in 30 years. In 2021, Saint Joseph’s announced an agreement to acquire and integrate the University of the Sciences, bringing several health professions and enhanced science programs–as well as USciences’ endowment and campus–under Saint Joseph’s. Dr. Reed oversaw the development and implementation of the university’s strategic plan focusing on enriching academic quality and distinction, enhancing student experiences, promoting programs of national prominence, and fostering greater financial strength and stability. Dr. Reed also made expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion a key priority, steadily increasing the percentage of first-year students of color and opening a dedicated space for students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, and other underrepresented communities. 

“Loyola is already doing amazing work–and has been for more than 150 years. Its faculty, staff, and alumni are passionate about creating real change in our world and striving toward the greater good,” said Dr. Reed. “But most importantly its students–the reason universities exist–are driven and tenacious. They’re innovators and entrepreneurs who have the unique gift of seeing the intersection between the highest level of scholarship and the highest commitment to serving others and bettering our world. We’re preparing them to take roles in our society that are so desperately needed–nurses and physicians and ecologists–but also the lawyers, business leaders, teachers, communicators, and counselors who understand the human spirit. More than that, with the speed at which the world moves today, we’re preparing them for careers and challenges that don’t yet exist. I’m thrilled to join Loyola, and I can’t wait to get started.” 

“Jesuit education has had a profound impact on my life,” said Dr. Reed, who has regularly taught courses in Calculus and Statistics, guest lectured on leadership and management, and participated in or led student retreats and service immersion trips. “From my time in high school, to my experience as a university president, and all the stops along the way, I have had incredible Jesuit mentors, colleagues, and friends. They taught me to be reflective, and how to use what I learned in the classroom in service to others. The opportunity to lead one of the largest and most dynamic Jesuit, Catholic universities in the country is an honor.” 

Known for his coalition-building and leadership among peers, Dr. Reed currently serves as Chair of the Council of Presidents for the Atlantic 10 Conference–which Loyola will formally join in July 2022–and serves on the Boards of Directors for the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), and Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for St. Joseph’s Prep. 

“President-elect Reed is deeply devoted to our shared mission,” said Father Karl Kiser, S.J., provincial of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus. “As a lifelong product and proponent of Jesuit education, Dr. Reed knows the transformative power of our schools and ministries firsthand. We look forward to a strong continued partnership with him, and with Loyola, as the University continues to prepare students for extraordinary lives of service to others and excellence in all that they do.” 

Reed joins Loyola at an exciting time. This fall, the University welcomed its largest and most diverse first-year class in its history and has recently established the School of Environmental Sustainability, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, and Institute for Racial Justice, continuing Loyola’s legacy of leadership in addressing society’s most pressing issues. The University is also home to one of only four Jesuit medical schools in the country and a top-ranked nursing school.

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About Loyola University Chicago
Founded in 1870, Loyola University Chicago is one of the nation’s largest Jesuit, Catholic universities, with nearly 17,500 students. The University has four campuses: three in the greater Chicago area and one in Rome, Italy, as well as course locations in in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Vernon Hills, Illinois (Cuneo Mansion and Gardens), and a Retreat and Ecology Campus in Woodstock, Illinois. The University features 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. Ranked a top national university by U.S. News & World Report, Loyola is also among a select group of universities recognized for community service and engagement by prestigious national organizations including AmeriCorps and the Carnegie Foundation. To learn more about Loyola, visit LUC.edu or follow us on Twitter via @LoyolaChicago.