David Dausey, provost, named Duquesne University's next president

The next president of Duquesne University credits the grit of his upbringing, the privilege of his education and the global perspective of his professional life for his readiness to fill the position come July 1.

Provost David Dausey was named the school’s 14th president, succeeding Ken Gormley, school officials announced Wednesday.

“To be entrusted as the next president of this historic university as it approaches its 150th anniversary is the greatest honor of my life,” said Dausey of Pittsburgh, who in his role as provost oversees the university’s academic operations.

Diane Hupp, chairperson of Duquesne’s board of directors, said Dausey was chosen after a nationwide search and brings a proven record of success that has earned broad respect.

“Our main imperative was to find the most qualified person to understand Duquesne and what is necessary to lead the university forward at this time,” Hupp said. “We face a period of great challenge and opportunity for higher education, when mission-driven Catholic education especially has so much to give students and our larger society.

“We have great confidence that Dr. Dausey is the right leader for this key moment in the life of Duquesne.”

About Dausey

In his role as provost, Dausey also oversees research and innovation, enrollment management, online learning, student success, educational and classroom technology, university libraries, academic centers and institutes, and international programs, including Duquesne’s campuses in Rome and Dublin.

Before Duquesne, Dausey served as the executive vice president and provost of Mercyhurst University.

He also worked as a full-time researcher with the RAND Corp. and as an analyst at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

During the announcement Wednesday, Dausey spoke of his upbringing in Jefferson Hills and path to higher education. His father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a homemaker. He said his future felt fixed, destined for a job in the mill, but then those jobs dried up.

“I enrolled in a community college, juggling multiple jobs along the way, and step-by-step, through persistence and grace, I earned doctoral degrees from Yale and Penn,” he said.

An internationally recognized epidemiologist, he has worked with senior health officials in more than 20 countries and experts from international organizations and foundations such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the Global Health and Security Initiative and the Rockefeller Foundation.

“Higher education didn’t just change my life, it awakened it. It opened doors I didn’t know existed,” Dausey said. “It taught me to think, to listen and to serve.

”That awakening took root at a Catholic college. In those classrooms, my faith was deepened, and my voice emerged.”

He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mercyhurst and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from Yale. He earned a second doctoral degree in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dausey said he will bring all of those experiences as he prepares to lead Duquesne.

“They have not only formed how I lead, but why I lead,” he said. “To open doors for others, to champion voices unheard, and to ensure that every student regardless of background has the chance to discover their potential and ignite their own fire.”

‘A unique position to lead’

Dausey said he plans to continue Duquesne’s momentum into the headwinds of enrollment demographic challenges, economic pressure and public questioning of the importance of higher education.

Dausey said the future holds a new strategic and master plan at Duquesne and preparations for a new fundraising campaign.

“These efforts will be aligned and interwoven, anchored in mission, focused on students and designed to strengthen Duquesne’s impact in this region and the world,” he said. “Duquesne is in a unique position to lead, not just to endure, but to inspire.”

Dausey said he expects Duquesne to take the lead in the ethical use of artificial intelligence, broaden its work in disability inclusion and strengthen its research and teaching.

He also played a key role in establishing Duquesne’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and helped drive fundraising for new facilities and programs across the university.

“Ten years ago, few would have imagined a fully operational College of Osteopathic Medicine, a revitalized engineering portfolio, a fundraising campaign that shattered a $333 million goal, or a Cindarellic run at the national stage in March Madness,” Dausey said. “We did all of that not by chasing headlines, but by pairing big vision with rigorous planning.”

Bright future

Dausey is excited to continue Duquesne’s growth and reputation within the Pittsburgh region, he said.

“President Ken Gormley set out to have a university that was a flagship of community engagement. I think we’ve done that, and we want to continue to build those partnerships,” he said. “That will be a centerpiece of my administration, a centerpiece of my work as we move ahead.”

Dausey will remain provost until he steps into the presidency July 1. In the meantime, he plans to embark on a campuswide listening tour, gathering feedback from students, staff and alumni.

“The success of Duquesne relies on more than just the president — it relies on all of us, on our shared effort, on our shared governance and on our shared belief that students are the polestar of everything we do,” he said.

Succession plan

Gormley will step down as president July 1, after 10 years at the helm.

Gormley will stay on as university chancellor. In that role, he will work closely with Dausey, maintaining and growing relationships with alumni, foundation and community leaders, government officials and others, according to the university. He also will focus on special projects as determined by Dausey and Hupp.

Highlights during Gormley’s term as president include the opening of Duquesne’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, securing a $50 million gift from law alumnus Tom Kline — the largest in university history — and the launch of Duquesne’s largest capital campaign in history, “IGNITE,” which exceeded its $333 million goal.

Gormley previously served for seven years as dean of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne. He joined the faculty in 1994, after teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and engaging in private practice.

He is a respected constitutional scholar who has published four books, three of which are non-fiction dealing with constitutional or political issues. The most recent, “Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History,” was published by NYU Press in 2016 and received national acclaim. That book came out in a two-volume paperback in fall 2022, with a new chapter added on the Trump presidency.

Gormley is a former president of the Allegheny County Bar Association, the first academic to hold that position in the organization’s 137-year history.