Lawlor
Meet Executive Vice President for Operations Dave Lawlor
Dave Lawlor joined the Marquette community on Jan. 10 as executive vice president for operations, a new position for the university. An essential member of Marquette’s executive leadership team, Lawlor will provide administrative and fiscal leadership throughout the university.
He brings to Marquette more than 20 years of strategic management and leadership experience from higher education and private industry, but who exactly is Dave Lawlor the person?
Marquette Today had a chance to catch up with the new EVPO in his first weeks on the job. Here’s a wee bit more about him:
Age: 46
Hometown: I grew up in Dublin, Ireland, but spent most of my school holidays in the Glen of Aherlow in County Tipperary where my mother was from. I moved to the San Francisco Bay area when I was 17, and I have lived in northern California for about 18 years (and Maryland for 11).
Family: I’m the oldest in a family of five. My wife, Amanda, grew up in Sonoma County California, and we have four children: Conor, 20, an Army Ranger; Barry, 18, a mechanical engineering student at the Jacobs School at UC – San Diego; Wesley, 15, our 9th grade “football kid”; and our precious daughter Fiona, 13, who is in 8th grade.
The Lawlor Family (from left): Conor, Barry, Wesley, Fiona, Dave and Amanda.
Hobbies and interests: I am an avid aviator and flight instructor. I also love to golf and can’t wait to play Whistling Straits and Erin Hills.
Favorite movies: Irish films The Commitments, Once and Michael Collins.
Favorite book: The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, by Slavomir Rawicz.
Currently reading: Jesus Among Secular Gods, by Ravi Zacharias; The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future, by Steve Case; and Team of Teams, by General Stanley Chrystal.
Heroes: My grandmother, who was called Babs all her life. She was an amazing woman of God with incredible faith, which sustained her for a lifetime as a widow from the time my dad was 4 (he suffered from TB and spent most of his life in and out of hospital). She left an indelible mark on my life and my faith.
A second set of heroes are the men and women who serve our country through the armed forces. My eldest son is an Army Ranger, and I’ve been so impressed by the patriotism, courage and selflessness of those young men and women who will do anything for this amazing country and to serve and protect those around the world who can’t defend themselves.
Favorite quotes: “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good enough.” “Don’t boil the ocean.”
Favorite vacation spots: As a family, we have enjoyed many different places, including backpacking in Tuolumne Meadows at 11,000 feet when my daughter was 6. Staying quiet in the tents as the bears kicked around canisters was fun. As a teenager, I absolutely loved fishing for pike in County Monaghan with my cousin. I look forward to introducing each of my kids to Northern Pike in the Wisconsin lakes.
Biggest career learning experience: People will never care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Fun facts:
- First in family lineage to attend college
- Became a Marquette basketball fan last Tuesday night
- 49ers fan, but working on the courage to buy some Packers socks
- Climbed Mt. Rainier
- Attended Fuller Theological Seminary
- Sang in the Dublin City Boys Choir as a teenager (“I haven’t sung since, and you wouldn’t want to hear me now.”)
- Flew jets for an airline for a while (bucket list item)
- Served as group commander for the Maryland wing of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary and served as a search and rescue mission pilot
— Interviewed, edited by Christopher Stolarski, Office of Marketing and Communication