Marquette University President Michael Lovell, who had ties to Pitt, dies at 57
Michael Lovell, the president of Marquette University with deep ties to the University of Pittsburgh, died in Rome on Sunday after a battle with cancer.
He was 57 and grew up in Meadville.
Lovell earned three mechanical engineering degrees including a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994. He returned to Pitt as an associate professor in 2000. In 2003, he became the university’s associate dean for research in its School of Engineering.
In 2014, Lovell became Marquette’s 24th president. Prior to Marquette, he worked at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee as chancellor and, earlier, dean of its engineering college.
“Mike Lovell was a high-achieving, high-impact professional who was an even better person,” said Mark A. Nordenberg, Pitt’s former chancellor. “I was sad to see him leave Pitt but was thrilled with the opportunities that he found in Milwaukee. His death at such a young age is a tragic loss, but he touched countless lives through the all of the wonderful work that he did while he was among us.”
Before becoming an associate dean at Pitt, Lovell served as co-director of the university’s Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence and executive director of the Swanson Center for Product Innovation. There, he researched novel manufacturing processes, micro and nanotechnology, and tribology, which is the study of friction, lubrication and the wear between moving surfaces.
Lovell and his wife, Amy, were on a Jesuit formation pilgrimage in Rome when he fell ill and was hospitalized, Marquette officials said.
“Together, we pray for President Lovell’s family, especially his wife Amy, his children, and his friends, as well as for all members of our Marquette and Milwaukee communities, as we grieve this immeasurable loss,” Marquette said in a message on its website. “The days ahead will be full of heartbreak. In this time of grief and sadness, let us come together as a community linked by faith and love.”
Lovell fought a three-year battle with a rare form of cancer called sarcoma before he died.
“An entrepreneur at heart, President Lovell pushed Marquette and Milwaukee to ask what could be rather than settling for the status quo,” Marquette’s website said. “Throughout his presidency, he attended hundreds of campus events each year and continued to teach undergraduate students in his product realization class, saying that he gained great energy from his interactions with students, faculty and staff.”
In April, Lovell sat for an interview with the student newspaper, the Marquette Wire, where he talked about the importance of checking things off his bucket list and the fatigue he felt from chemotherapy.
“Relationships are often the most important thing in your life,” Lovell told the publication. “When you face your own morality, you realize that your relationship with God is right, because you don’t know when your last day is going to be and when it comes you want to make sure that you’re prepared spiritually for what lies next.”
Nordenberg recalled a visit to Milwaukee with Lovell.
“On one memorable occasion, I traveled to Milwaukee for a men’s basketball game,” he said. “Because we were not playing the university that he was leading at the time, both Mike and his wife attended the game decked out in blue-and-gold Pitt attire and cheered loudly for their Panthers. Being with them in that setting was a highlight of my trip.”
Marquette will host a 2.5 mile memorial run on Saturday in Lovell’s honor.
Megan Trotter is a TribLive staff writer. She can be reached at mtrotter@triblive.com.
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