Honoring Nancy Tuchman, founding dean of the School of Environmental Sustainability

Loyola University Chicago’s journey to becoming one of the country’s most environmentally sustainable universities—and the first Jesuit institution to create a School of Environmental Sustainability—can be traced to one woman’s vision. 

Nancy C. Tuchman, PhD, retires in June 2025 as founding dean of the School of Environmental Sustainability (SES), leaving behind a decades-long legacy of leadership, innovation, and deep commitment to justice through ecological stewardship. 

Tuchman started her career at Loyola in 1989 as a junior faculty member of ecology in the Department of Biology. In more than three decades at Loyola, she evolved into an influential environmental leader who has made a profound impact throughout Jesuit higher education.  

As an early-career professor, Tuchman was energized by teaching and field research. She spent summers in northern Michigan studying the impact of invasive plants on wetland ecosystems in the Great Lakes Region—a research project that continues today under SES faculty Shane Lishawa and Brian Ohsowski. She enjoyed introducing students to the wonders of environmental concepts and teaching them how to both steward nature and conduct ecological research in the field.  

In 2002, Tuchman spent a year as a program officer at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of a team that reviewed grant proposals for ecosystem studies. Upon her return, Loyola’s then-new president, Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., and Provost Peter Facione asked Tuchman to serve as associate provost for research and centers. Though hesitant to leave the classroom, she accepted the role as an act of service.  

In her new administrative role, she fully connected with Loyola’s Jesuit mission for the first time. As one of Loyola’s early advocates for environmental sustainability, Tuchman helped University leaders see the connections between the University’s social justice mission and global environmental problems, including how climate change and pollution disproportionately impact marginalized communities. 

Creating the School of Environmental Sustainability 

Her advocacy helped influence Garanzini’s 2004 commitment to a $750 million building plan that emphasized environmental sustainability. When the University set out to launch interdisciplinary centers of excellence, Tuchman secured approval for a new center focused on the environment. In 2005, she became the founding director of the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP). 

This marked the beginning of a broader institutional shift. In 2012, Loyola created the Office of Sustainability to oversee its growing efforts, with Aaron Durnbaugh as its first director. 

The next year, Loyola launched the Institute of Environmental Sustainability with Tuchman as its founding director. The institute opened its doors in a new building equipped with a greenhouse, geothermal system, aquaponics facilities, classrooms, labs, and a biodiesel facility where students convert used cooking oil into clean-burning, renewable biodiesel fuel. 

In 2015, Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’ helped further cement Loyola’s commitment to the environment, affirming that taking action to care for creation is a moral and spiritual imperative. That same year, Loyola’s Board of Trustees ratified the University’s Climate Action Plan, committing to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025—a goal the institution achieved in January of this year.  

The momentum continued to build, and in 2020, Loyola elevated the institute to a school, establishing the first School of Environmental Sustainability in any Jesuit institution worldwide. As founding dean, Tuchman led the school’s growth into a thriving academic hub with eight undergraduate degree programs, a master’s degree program, and three graduate certificate programs. SES celebrated its largest graduating class in 2025, with 164 students earning degrees. 

“Her impact has not only been felt here, but it’s been felt across all of American Jesuit higher education, and increasingly, in the latter part of her career, across the vast global network of Jesuit institutions,” said President Mark C. Reed, EdD, at the 2025 SES Commencement ceremony. 

A dedicated environmental steward 

Despite the progress made at Loyola, Tuchman acknowledged that working to protect the environment is a daunting task. Her motivation, she said, comes from her lifelong love of nature and deep commitment to the well-being of future generations.  

“I fell in love with nature when I was a kid. It inspires me to be a steward of the beauty, intricacies, and complexities of the natural world. And while nature is so big, robust, and complex, it’s also incredibly fragile,” she said. “It worries me that we’re extinguishing our life source by so severely neglecting and abusing the planet.”  

She continued, “But what motivates me is my connection with people who are doing good work to move our economy off of fossil fuels and students who want to have a positive impact in the world.” 

Tuchman said she also finds hope and gratitude in being a companion of the Jesuits.  

“It has been phenomenally gratifying to help advance the mission of a 500-year-old international Society—a mission that is just, generous, and faithful,” she said. “Being a Jesuit companion has made all the difference in my life and that of my family.”

A person for others

In reflecting on Loyola’s accomplishments in sustainability, Tuchman is quick to credit others who have championed the cause. She noted that students, faculty, staff, and Jesuit advocacy efforts were critical in shaping the University’s vision and accountability. 

“Building anything new at a university requires collaboration, and I am forever grateful for the vision and effort of the many university partners who have helped build our reputation as one of the most environmentally sustainable universities in the country,” she said.  

“I am thankful for University Trustees, vice presidents, and presidents—especially Father Michael Garanzini and our current president, Mark Reed—who made bold commitments that sustained Loyola’s environmental progress.”  

Looking back at her career, Tuchman said her personal highlights included hiring and mentoring new faculty and staff, including Reuben Keller, now a full professor and graduate program director at SES. 

“I still remember when I first met Nancy. It was during my campus interview for a position in the Department of Environmental Science,” Keller said. “Nancy showed me the plans for the IES building and explained the vision for the Institute. Her excitement for the project and my potential role in it made me excited about coming to Loyola.”  

Keller said he appreciates the support that Tuchman has provided throughout his career at Loyola. “She has shown interest in my research program and has supported me as my lab has grown. Nancy has been a great sounding board for my ideas and has worked hard to make it possible for my research program to succeed,” said Keller. 

Looking to the future 

SES now has a strong team of faculty and staff in place, and Tuchman will step down confident that Loyola will continue to build the foundation she helped create. On July 1, Malini Suchak, PhD, will become the new dean. Suchak previously chaired the Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation Department at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York. 

Tuchman will continue to work to build a more just and sustainable world, especially in Jesuit networks. She was instrumental in creating Healing Earth, a free online environmental science textbook, and hopes to help other Jesuit institutions adopt sustainable practices modeled after Loyola. 

To honor her many contributions to the University, in May 2025, Loyola established the Nancy C. Tuchman Scholarship Fund to provide financial support for SES students in perpetuity. Additional gifts in Tuchman’s honor will expand the scholarship’s impact, helping the next generation of environmental leaders follow in her footsteps.  

“So much of what we have in SES, and more broadly in environmental projects across the campus, is a direct result of the work and creativity that Nancy has given to Loyola,” said Keller. “We will continue to build on this foundation, and it will always strongly reflect Nancy’s legacy.”