Dr. Kimo Ah Yun was unanimously elected the 25th president of Marquette University by the Marquette Board of Trustees at a special board meeting. Dr. Ah Yun, who has served in the dual acting president and provost roles since June 10, succeeds Dr. Michael R. Lovell, who led the university as its first lay president from 2014 until his death on June 9, 2024, from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
President Ah Yun is the first person of color to lead Marquette and the Catholic, Jesuit university’s second lay president in its 143-year history. He joined Marquette in 2016 as dean of the Diederich College of Communication, was named acting provost in 2018 and then permanent provost and executive vice president for academic affairs in 2019. A first-generation college student, President Ah Yun is committed to furthering the university’s mission of educational access and ensuring all students are successful from their first day to their first destination following graduation.
In announcing President Ah Yun as the university’s 25th president, Board Chair Todd Adams said, “Dr. Kimo Ah Yun is a proven leader who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to Marquette University’s Catholic, Jesuit mission, vision and values. As provost and acting president, he has been a leader in the university’s proactive efforts toward continuous improvement to ensure Marquette thrives for generations to come. Marquette is in a strong position in a challenging environment for higher education, and the Board of Trustees has full confidence in his ability to provide the stability necessary to lead Marquette forward to achieve our vision of being among the most innovative and accomplished Catholic, Jesuit universities in the world.”
“At Marquette, we take seriously our mission to serve God by serving our students. My top priority is ensuring we continue to provide a transformational education for our students so that our graduates are problem-solvers and agents of change,” President Ah Yun said. “Grounded in its Catholic, Jesuit mission, Marquette was founded on the promise of educational access, and as we approach our 150th anniversary, students remain at the heart of all that we do. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our faculty, staff, students, alumni and Milwaukee community in our continuous pursuit of excellence, faith, leadership and service.”
Very Rev. Karl Kiser, S.J., provincial of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus, praised the hire, saying, “Dr. Ah Yun is a committed Catholic and a servant leader. On behalf of the Society of Jesus, I congratulate Dr. Ah Yun and his family, and I look forward to working in partnership with Dr. Ah Yun and his leadership team as we continue to serve the greater glory of God.”
A lifelong Catholic, President Ah Yun believes deeply in the Catholic, Jesuit mission of Marquette, and is committed to serving God by serving students. While provost, he completed the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities’ Ignatian Colleagues Program leadership formation for lay leaders, focused on the Catholic, Jesuit identity, charism, tradition and spirituality of the AJCU schools. His culminating ICP project centered on supporting mission in hiring and faculty development at the college level.
President Ah Yun’s unanimous election by the Board of Trustees is the culmination of an intensive search process led by the Board of Trustees and an 11-person search committee that began in July. The search committee and executive search firm Isaacson, Miller conducted a national review of higher education leaders and recruited a pool of candidates that included sitting presidents, provosts, deans and members of the Society of Jesus.
President Ah Yun will focus on stability, momentum
President Ah Yun’s tenure at Marquette has been marked by a dedication to fostering academic excellence and nurturing a community committed to service, faith and justice while having the fortitude to make difficult decisions. Having served Marquette in several key leadership roles over the past eight years, President Ah Yun’s leadership provides continuity on major initiatives including implementing the university’s Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan, and builds upon positive momentum in increasing student retention rates, transforming the campus environment, finding more effective and efficient ways for the university to operate, and raising funds to grow the endowment so that a Marquette education is accessible and affordable for all students.
Marquette is currently ranked in the top 20% of national universities and in the top 20 for undergraduate teaching by U.S. News & World Report. The Princeton Review named Marquette among its Best Value Colleges for 2024 and ranked it No. 12 nationally among private universities for internships and No. 1 in the nation for community service engagement.
In President Ah Yun’s nearly six years as provost at Marquette, he focused on enhancing community and belonging campuswide; investing in student success across academics, financial support and personal well-being; improving the lived experience for participating faculty and graduate students; increasing undergraduate student retention and improving graduation rates and first destination outcomes; and addressing complex challenges in the higher education landscape through strategic, proactive decisions that align with the university’s Catholic, Jesuit mission and the Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan.
In fall 2021, then President Lovell and Provost Ah Yun launched the university’s Student Success Initiative focused on communication, community and classroom to support students in each phase of their journeys at Marquette. Entering its fifth year, the initiative has resulted in record first-to-second-year retention rates, increases in students utilizing academic success resources, and a key physical component — the Lemonis Center for Student Success, which Marquette opened in fall 2024 to provide wraparound services for students across all majors, academic abilities and backgrounds to enrich and expand student opportunities.
Working closely with then President Lovell, leaders in University Advancement and college deans, President Ah Yun was instrumental in the success of the university’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, Time to Rise: The Marquette Promise to Be The Difference, which surpassed $800 million in funds raised, exceeding its $750 million goal and elevating resources across the university to advance its mission and pillars of excellence, faith, leadership and service.
As part of the Executive Leadership Team, President Ah Yun also led on the development of key academic and student-centric facilities across campus, including the opening of the fully donor-funded Dr. E. J. and Margaret O’Brien Hall, the new home for Marquette Business, and the reconstructed David A. Straz, Jr., Hall, the new home for Marquette Nursing. In early 2025, Marquette will open the reimagined Wellness + Helfaer Recreation facility, which will bring together services that support the physical and mental health needs of the Marquette community, providing a 25% increase in recreational space and nearly doubling the wellness and medical space offered on campus today.
An inauguration ceremony will be planned for spring 2025. Visit marquette.edu/25th-president to view President Ah Yun’s CV, fast facts, photos and more.
The university will name an acting provost in the coming days; a national search for Marquette’s next permanent provost will follow. Watch Marquette Today for updates.
About President Ah Yun
Prior to joining Marquette University, President Ah Yun was associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters at California State University, Sacramento, where he also served as chair of the department of communication studies, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and professor of communication studies. During his 20-year tenure at Sacramento State, he co-chaired the President’s Committee to Build Campus Unity, which programmed and executed campuswide conversations on topics such as discrimination, identity and privilege.
An accomplished scholar and teacher, President Ah Yun has received awards from California State University, Sacramento, and the International Communication Association. His work has been published in leading communication and teaching journals and his research has been supported with grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, California Criminal Justice Cabinet, California Department of Transportation and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
President Ah Yun earned his bachelor’s degree in communication studies from California State University, Sacramento, master’s degree in speech from Kansas State University, and a Ph.D. in communication from Michigan State University.
President Ah Yun lives in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, with his wife of 25 years, Catherine Puckering, who is a faculty member in the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette and previously was on the faculty in the department of communication at the University of California, Davis. President Ah Yun and First Lady Puckering have three children, Benjamin (22), Molly (21) and Haven (17). Benjamin is a senior at Marquette studying criminology and computer science; Molly is a senior at the University of Southern California as a pre-law student studying law, history and culture; and Haven is a high school senior who enjoys performing in choir and participating in musical theatre.
