the uncertainty created by a series of leadership transitions. Long-time university president Robert Wild retired in 2011. Wild’s successor, Scott Pilarz, abruptly stepped down just two years later, and Wild returned as interim president. Lovell is the first non-priest to lead Marquette.
With frequent leadership transitions, “people tend to just put their head down in their work,” Lovell says. “When you have an innovative, new idea, you are kind of sticking your head up a little bit. When there’s uncertainty, people maybe feel like that’s not the best time to do that.”
Still, it’s clear that Lovell is putting a stronger emphasis on innovation and commercialization of campus ideas than recent predecessors. In some respects, Lovell is trying to accomplish the same goal he had at UW-Milwaukee, which was “all about creating an entrepreneurial, innovative culture,” he says.
But his strategy at Marquette is broader than the targeted programs he helped institute at UW-Milwaukee. The $5 million fund, for example, won’t be limited to any particular disciplines or areas of campus, he says.
Lovell doesn’t have specific goals for the number of investments the fund will make or the number of companies the university will help form. “I’m a believer that these things are much more of a marathon than a sprint,” he says.
