Watch President Lovell’s campus address in its entirety.
President Michael R. Lovell in his campus address Wednesday, Jan. 17, won over a standing room only crowd of mostly faculty and staff when he concluded his fourth annual speech by doubling down on the university’s beloved “gift of time” benefit — university employees will now also receive paid holiday leave the week of July 4.
That wasn’t the only news that garnered applause. President Lovell introduced a revamped Strategic Innovation Fund, now called the Marquette Impact Challenge, which comprises two separate opportunities for members of the Marquette community to vie for funds.
The Explorer Challenge retains much of the Strategic Innovation Fund’s structure; however, it will grant more awards at a lower dollar amount ($30,000 or less) for select proposals that seek to improve the university. New is the President’s Challenge, which is focused on serving Milwaukee’s most challenged neighborhoods by addressing inequities.
The President’s Challenge was developed in partnership with the Johnson Controls Foundation, which will provide a $250,000, two-year grant for one successful interdisciplinary, collaborative proposal that “addresses one or more of the critical areas in which neighborhood inequities exist, including health, education, safety, housing, transportation and economic prosperity.”
The foundation’s president, Grady Crosby, lauded Marquette’s pledge to Be the Difference and underscored the importance of education with a quote from Frederick Douglass: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
Those who are interested in the President’s Challenge are invited to an information session on Monday, Feb. 12, at 3:30 p.m. in AMU Ballroom E.
Other highlights from the fourth annual President’s Address
- President Lovell announced the development of a new Office for Corporate Engagement, which will formalize, enhance and streamline the ways in which Marquette works with corporate partners, and ultimately increase the number of opportunities the university has to work with industry.
- The president highlighted a slew of new academic programs that have just launched or will launch in 2018. They include a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nurse Anesthesia, a fully online MBA, an MS in Supply Chain Management, an MS in Health Care Analytics and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Neuroscience.
- Trustee Emerita Mary Henke has made a generous gift to fund a new outdoor courtyard connected to the 707 Hub, the university’s innovation, entrepreneurship and maker space that opened last year.
- President Lovell recognized Emery Lehman, junior civil engineering major, who was recently named to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team.
View the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s photo gallery of the President’s Address.
Related content: President Lovell awards ‘Difference Makers’ at annual address.