Mark R. Nemec has been named the ninth president in the history of Fairfield University, effective July 1. He will replace interim President Lynn Babington, who took over when the Rev. Jeffrey von Arx resigned last summer to take another position within the Jesuit society. As previously reported, Babington is leaving the university to become president of Chaminade University in Honolulu.
Currently the dean of the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies at the University of Chicago, Nemec will also join Fairfield”™s politics department as a professor within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Nemec was chosen following an extensive national search led by a committee consisting of University trustees, faculty, administrators, students, and members of the Fairfield Jesuit community.
“I”™m particularly excited to be joining a Jesuit university, having been steeped in and formed by the principles of Jesuit education as a young man,” Nemec said. “I look forward to working with everyone in the Fairfield community to ensure that we continue to evolve to meet the needs of students and society today in order to create a model for 21st century higher education while remaining true to our core values so we may exceptionally educate men and women for others.”
A graduate of Loyola High School, Jesuit College Preparatory in Los Angeles, Nemec earned a Ph.D. in political science and an M.A. in education from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in English at Yale, where he was an All-Ivy League rugby player. Early in his career he taught American politics as a visiting assistant professor at Davidson College and as an instructor at the University of Michigan.
Prior to joining the University of Chicago in 2014, he served as president and chief executive officer of Eduventures, a Boston-based information services firm that provides research and consulting to the higher education community. He previously had been a member of the executive team of Forrester Research, a provider of similar services to the technology industry.
Andrew McMahon, university trustee and chair of the university”™s Presidential Search Committee, said that Nemec”™s “passion for higher education, commitment to Jesuit values and experiences in academia and business, bring a distinctive set of skills and experiences to this critical role as we begin this new chapter in our history.”
