Dear Marquette community,
As I close out my first week as your new provost, I realized it’s been three months since I was named to the role and last had the opportunity to share a message with you. A lot has happened since then. To start, I arrived in Milwaukee in early February with my husband, Sam, and our rescue dog, Torshi.
Welcomed by some decent (I’m told!) weather, we’ve had a chance to walk around and get to know the city. Though I’m wholly new to Milwaukee, I grew up near lots of water, so I immediately fell in love with the lake. We are excited to learn more about and further enjoy our new home — it truly is beautiful (and very walkable!).
The first several days of my Marquette experience have absolutely met the first impressions I had when I first visited campus this past fall. I have already had the pleasure of meeting a variety of members of the Marquette community, on campus and off, and it has been immediately clear: People are proud of this university and the exemplary student experience, teaching, research and scholarship that happens here.
It is within that energy and through an ongoing commitment to our Catholic, Jesuit mission where I see boundless opportunities for relationship-building and collaboration so that Marquette may thrive now and into its next 150 years.
Since a university is about its people, I have spent the past week starting to get to know the wonderful faculty, staff and students across campus. Thank you, all, for your kind welcome and generosity of time.
While I’m committed to visiting all corners of campus, as a chemist I couldn’t help but take one of my first tours in the Wehr Chemistry Building. It was exciting to see students studying and engaging in research alongside faculty; what is happening in those classrooms and laboratories was nothing short of impressive. I look forward to experiencing that same spirited scholarship when I visit our other colleges and departments in the weeks and months ahead.
As I do that, I ask a humble favor: If you see me wandering around campus looking a bit lost, please introduce yourself and point me in the right direction. I will get the hang of it soon, I promise.
I look forward to getting to know much more about each of you — what brings you joy and makes you proud of your contributions to Marquette.
It is an honor to serve you as a leader in all our endeavors to Be The Difference.
Sincerely,
Dr. Debbie Tahmassebi
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
