Marquette University President Michael Lovell died Sunday in Rome after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 57.
University officials said in a news release posted on X, the social medial platform formerly known as Twitter, that Lovell had been suffering from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that develops in the bones and soft tissues. Lovell and his wife, Amy, were in Rome on a Jesuit formation pilgrimage when he fell ill and was taken to a hospital, according to the news release.
“When you don’t know how much time you have left, you want your days to be impactful and you want to do things that you love,” Lovell said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2022. “And so you ask me, why do I want to work? Well, you know, there are days that are hard, to be honest with you, and the last few years weren’t easy, but I love being on this campus. I love being in our community.”
Marquette officials are planning a prayer vigil for Lovell with details to be announced on the university's website when they become available, campus officials said in the news release.
“The days ahead will be full of heartbreak,” they said. “In this time of grief and sadness, let us come together as a community linked by faith and love.”
Lovell took over as the university's 24th president in 2014. Prior to become president he served as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He helped create the Near West Side Partners, a nonprofit focused on economic development, housing and safety in Marquette's neighborhood in Milwaukee, according to a profile on the Marquette website. He also helped start a number of other initiatives in Milwaukee, including the Midwest Energy Research Consortium, which promotes growth in the energy sector, and the Water Council, which focuses on innovation in fresh water technology.
He served on multiple boards, including the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He earned three mechanical engineering degrees, including a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.
