PITTSBURGH — Duquesne University has tapped David Dausey, the school's current provost and a nationally recognized epidemiologist, to serve as the Catholic institution's 14th president.

School officials announced the selection during a news conference Wednesday morning. Dausey will take the university's helm in July.

"This is the greatest honor of my life," Dausey told a crowd of over 100 people in Duquesne's Student Union.

Becoming the leader of Pittsburgh's largest Catholic institution "never felt preordained," noted Dausey, who was raised in working-class Jefferson Hills by a mill worker and homemaker.

His future felt "fixed" — destined for the mill, like so many others from his background. But when those jobs dried up, Dausey enrolled in community college. That decision put him on a path to earn several advanced academic degrees and serve as both an educator and administrator at four Western Pennsylvania institutions.

Higher education "awakened" Dausey's life, and he said he hopes to impart that same impact on current and future students.

"I carry all of these things with me to the presidency of Duquesne University — the grit of my upbringing, the privilege of my education and the global perspective of my professional life," he said.

Dausey's hiring comes after a national search that began in the spring. Several dozen people applied for the position.

In the university's nearly 150-year history, Duquesne has hired just 14 presidents, noted Diane Hupp, chair of the Duquesne Board of Directors and president of UPMC Children's Hospital.

School leaders sought a president who was academically gifted, fit Duquesne's character and could lead the university through the headwinds facing higher education, she said.

"Put simply, (selecting a new president) doesn't happen very often, and it doesn't happen by chance, it happens by choice," Hupp said. "It's both momentous and exciting to do."

The incoming president succeeds Ken Gormley, whose 10-year presidency at Duquesne saw the opening of a medical school, record-breaking fundraising and a global pandemic.

Dausey joined the Duquesne community in 2018 as a professor and vice president for academic affairs. He became provost and executive vice president in 2020.

During his seven years at Duquesne, he has worked closely with Gormley, who will step into the role of university chancellor — a more oversight-oriented position — upon his departure in June.

"Provost Dausey has earned the trust and respect of faculty and staff across the university," Gormley said in a statement. "He has been a key part of our momentum and played a leading role in the establishment of our new medical school and other major initiatives. David has developed valuable networks with alumni, regional leaders, foundation executives, the Spiritan community and others.

"I am thrilled that he will help lead Duquesne into its next great era."

University officials declined to disclose Dausey's presidential salary. His predecessor earned more than $1.2 million in 2024, tax filings by the university show. Dausey earned a base salary of over $395,000 the same year.

The incoming president will be tasked with building upon the growth established over the past decade, while also leading the historic institution through the issues hitting colleges across the country.

Universities are bracing for a projected demographic decline in college-aged people as they also manage questions about the value of a college degree, funding pressures from the federal government and the rise of artificial intelligence.

Duquesne has seen enrollment fall roughly 13% over the past decade, though last fall the university enrolled one of its largest freshman classes to date.

Asked about university enrollment, Dausey pointed to Duquesne's recent moves to establish the Nasuti College of Osteopathic Medicine and create new engineering programs.

"We are really working hard here to think about the programs (students) need to be successful in life — demographically resilient programs that have high demand," Dausey said. "We will continue to advance initiatives that have those programs at the center, while making sure that we recognize the importance of the liberal arts and the importance of teaching students to critically think, especially in an era of AI."

Dausey said his immediate priorities as leader will include setting the stage for the university's next strategic plan, reimagining the campus master plan and preparing for yet another "transformative" fundraising campaign. The private school's most recent campaign surpassed its $333 million goal.

He will also be tasked with hiring his successor. The university's next provost must first and foremost "be centered in our mission," Dausey told the Post-Gazette.

At Duquesne, the provost oversees academic operations — including over 200 degree and certificate programs — as well as research, enrollment management and international programs.

Dausey is Duquesne's fourth lay president. A priest has not served as the Catholic university's president since 1988.

The university was founded by the Spiritans, a group of Catholic missionaries, in 1878. University Chaplain Rev. William Christy said Dausey's selection brings a "moment of transition, of promise and of new beginnings" to the campus community.

Dausey — who earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Mercyhurst University, a Catholic institution in Erie — stressed the importance of Catholic education in his remarks.

"Higher education didn't just change my life, it awakened it. ... that awakening took root at a Catholic college," Dausey said. "In those classrooms, my faith was deepened and my voice emerged."

Before working at Duquesne, Dausey served in leadership and faculty roles at Carnegie Mellon University, Mercyhurst and the University of Pittsburgh.

An internationally recognized epidemiologist, he has also worked as a policy researcher at RAND Corporation, a Pittsburgh-based research institution; a technical consultant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dausey is an elected fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, and has written books, research articles and reports on epidemiology.

He received master's and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from Yale University, and earned a second doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed post-graduate training in higher education leadership and management at Harvard University.

Dausey resides in Monroeville with his wife, Nichole. His two sons are both undergraduate students at Duquesne.

Duquesne enrolled more than 8,200 students in fall 2024. Base undergraduate tuition at the private university is $51,000.

_____

© 2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.