Ninth Ignatian and First Lay President
On July 1, 2017, Mark R. Nemec, PhD, became the first lay and ninth Ignatian President of Fairfield University.
Working with his senior leadership team, constituents across campus, and the University’s alumni and civic communities, President Nemec has positioned Fairfield to be a modern, Jesuit Catholic University of national prominence — committed to lifelong learning, holistic formation, and expansive partnership while instantiating academic excellence, fostering comprehensive achievement, and advancing educational access.
Under President Nemec’s leadership, Fairfield has renewed its commitment to the nearly 500-year-old traditions of Jesuit pedagogy, with an emphasis on excellence in all things, care for the whole student, and a broad-based liberal arts and sciences foundation. This values-based, student-centric, outcomes-focused approach is dedicated to forming men and women for and with others, in pursuit of societal stewardship and productive citizenship.
At the same time, he has led the University through a course of expansion and innovation designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century and has expanded the University’s reach to learners of all ages. He has emphasized innovation in teaching methods, embraced the potential of big data and emerging technologies, launched new graduate and professional programs designed to meet the needs of today’s students, and fostered industry and community partnerships to strengthen the University’s reputation as a leader in contemporary higher education.
Since 2017, Fairfield has seen traditional undergraduate enrollment grow from 4,003 to 5,276 while increasing selectivity to 21 percent, ranking it fifth amongst all Catholic universities and colleges. In this same period, Fairfield’s total enrollment grew from 5,197 to 7,161.
During Dr. Nemec’s tenure, Fairfield has also embarked on a series of efforts to serve broader student populations in ever more innovative ways. Inspired by its longstanding relationship with Brooklyn Jesuit Prep and Camp Montmartre, the University has expanded its commitment to educational access through the significant expansion of Academic Immersion, the creation of the Company Scholars program for high-achieving first-generation students from Cristo Rey and Jesuit high schools, and the initiation of Fairfield Bellarmine. The Bellarmine program, which provides full support to students, offers a two-year associate’s degree as a pathway to a four-year degree or career. It was launched in Bridgeport in conjunction with the Diocese in 2023.
President Nemec also led completion of the largest capital campaign in university history. Exceeding an ambitious goal of $160 million, Fairfield Rising closed in 2018 having raised $218 million. Subsequently, Dr. Nemec secured the largest gift in the institution’s history—$50 million, which was honored by the naming of the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences.
Building upon the University’s academic strengths, he and his team has driven an enhanced focus on critical thinking, interdisciplinarity, and experiential learning across programs. Additionally, they have expanded the University’s reach to learners of all ages through online graduate programs and geographic expansion of postgraduate health studies in Austin, Texas and postgraduate business education in Shanghai, China. Furthermore, a purposeful and ongoing initiative to enhance the built environment under his stewardship has brought new facilities and enhanced technological infrastructure, including the completion of the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies and the Tully Dining Commons, the creation of the School of Engineering and Computing Innovation Annex, and the building of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, the Leo D. Mahoney Arena, the Barnyard Townhouses, and additional new residence halls.
