Press Releases
Saint Xavier University Inaugurates Dr. Judith A. Dwyer as 17th President
April 23 Ceremonies Draw More Than 700 to One of the Midwest's Fastest-Growing Universities
CHICAGO (April 24, 2004)-Dr. Judith A. Dwyer was inaugurated Friday, April 23, as the 17th president of Saint Xavier University in ceremonies at the university's Chicago campus, 3700 W. 103rd St. Dwyer, the first laywoman president of the university, assumed her post last October at the 158-year-old institution, today regarded among the fastest-growing universities in the Midwest. Current enrollment tops 5,500 students. Present for her investiture were more than 700 guests, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), as well as high-ranking state and city officials, representatives from the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Sisters of Mercy, plus university marshals, faculty, deans, staff, past presidents of university and its board of trustees.
Dr. Steven Murphy, Saint Xavier's vice president for enrollment and student services, served as master of ceremonies and university board chair John P. Sweeney will officially present Dwyer with the university's charter and place on her shoulders the Saint Xavier seal suspended from a chain. One of the day's highlights included a procession of some 200 Saint Xavier VIPs and their counterparts from other U.S. colleges and universities - most of them robed - from the Warde Academic Center on the campus' east end to the Shannon Convocation and Athletic Center. Dwyer's keynote speech was "Call to Service: The Social Responsibility of a Catholic University." In it, she conveyed both the school's mission and its preparation of students for lives of service.
Many Saint Xavier graduates become educators, nurses and public servants, or continue their studies to become members of the clergy. Dwyer also expressed high hopes for the strategic planning process, in which the entire Saint Xavier community is engaged. Dwyer was executive vice-president and chief operating officer of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., from 1998 until last fall. Previously she served as an administrator at Villanova University and at St. John's University in New York. Dwyer holds a Ph.D. in theology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, and has completed post-doctoral work at both Harvard and Oxford Universities.
Saint Xavier University is an independent, coeducational Catholic institution founded in Chicago by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846. Mercy core values - respect, justice and caring - have contributed significantly to its growth and development of this master's comprehensive institution, as well as to the diversification of its student body. Recognized as one of the fastest growing universities in the Midwest, the university creates a supportive learning environment, especially for the majority of undergraduates who are among the first in their family to graduate from college.