In 1990, something unusual happened in the world of Jesuit college and universities. The newly formed University of Detroit Mercy (UDM)—established via the consolidation of the University of Detroit and Mercy College of Detroit—named its first president, and it wasn’t a Jesuit.

Her name was Sr. Maureen Fay, O.P., the president of Mercy College from 1983 until the creation of UDM, and she was a natural fit for the new role. With her appointment, she became the first non-Jesuit to lead a Jesuit university in the United States.

After the formation of UDM, and the appointment of Sr. Fay, other Jesuit universities began to look to the laity as well as the Society of Jesus for presidents. Today, five of the six Midwestern Jesuit universities are led by laypersons, as the multi-faceted demands of the job are not for everyone.

Father Daniel Hendrickson, SJ, serves as president of Creighton University (CU) in Omaha—the only Midwestern Jesuit university that has never had a lay president—but Dr. Mark Reed leads Loyola University Chicago (LUC), and Dr. Colleen Hanycz is president of Xavier University (XU) in Cincinnati.

“You can’t just put a Roman collar in the position,” says Fr. Walter Deye, SJ, the Midwest Province’s provincial assistant for finance and a trustee at both XU and LUC. “It has to be the exact right person for the job.”

Today the president of UDM is Dr. Donald Taylor, who took over in 2022. A convert to Catholicism, Taylor has a degree in education and a PhD in cell and molecular biology.

“I always thought I was going to be chief scientific officer, major pharma or running my own biotech company,” he says.

His career in academia began at Benedictine University in Illinois, where he spent 22 years ultimately rising to provost and chief academic officer. Before UDM, he served as president of Cabrini College in Pennsylvania. Working in Catholic education led to his conversion.

“I like the guy,” says Fr. Si Hendry, SJ, who oversees the UDM Catholic Studies program and serves as Taylor’s spiritual advisor. Early on, Fr. Hendry sent him articles on the Spiritual Exercises to make him aware of the Jesuit charism.

“He was eager to learn the terminology,” Fr. Hendry says. “I noticed when he’d give talks, he’d use Jesuit language.”

The mission of any Jesuit university is to develop the whole person, making sure students become men and women for and with others for life while achieving academic excellence and learning about social justice.

Marquette University (MU) President Dr. Kimo Ah Yun was focused on all of those things even before he accepted his current role in 2024. He had come to Milwaukee in 2016 as dean of MU’s Diederich College of Communication and later became provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

As provost, Ah Yun consulted the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning to make sure MU was training its faculty members in the Ignatian model—including reflection, evaluation and action—so they could most effectively pass that knowledge along to their students.

The core curriculum, he says, must be true to Jesuit pedagogy, integrating faith and intellectual life, encouraging dialogue across disciplines and ensuring that students leave well rounded.

“We get them for four years,” Ah Yun says. “How do we make sure they take that with them for the next 50, 60, 70, 80 years, then hopefully pass it along to others?”

The newest layperson to lead a Midwest Jesuit university is Carolyn Noll Sorg, who took over at John Carroll University (JCU) this summer in preparation for the 2026-27 academic year. She is the third layperson and first woman to lead the 139-year-old school in University Heights, Ohio.

“Every program we build, every choice we make should always come back to how we deepen our connection to our mission,” says Noll Sorg, JCU’s former vice president for enrollment and marketing.

She and her colleagues recently went through the mission priority examen process and identified their top three priorities: accompaniment; illuminating the Jesuit advantage; and igniting purpose through care for the whole person.

This fall, JCU will launch a new platform called Onward, linking every JCU student to a team of mentors. It aims to help students find their purpose, build on that purpose and connect it to a career choice of learning.

“So that, in and of itself, is very Jesuit, very aligned to our mission priorities,” Noll Sorg says.

She believes every aspect of a student’s experience at JCU should reflect the school’s mission.

“If a student participates in a mission retreat, or has a conversation with an academic advisor, or is on the field as a member of an athletic program, these Jesuit values, the points of view that we take on our mission, should translate to all of those spaces,” she says.

A Jesuit college or university currently led by a layperson might one day be led by a Jesuit again. Until then, those schools can rest assured that they’ve found the right person for the job.