Known for her deep understanding of higher education and her commitment to cura personalis – care of the whole person – Susan M. Donovan, Ph.D., was named Bellarmine University’s fourth president in February 2017. She previously enjoyed a 32-year career at Loyola University Maryland, where she had been executive vice president since 2011, including a term as acting president in 2015.
In Dr. Donovan’s first year leading Bellarmine, the university improved undergraduate retention; improved its financial standing by reducing debt and increasing its endowment; achieved then-record fundraising of $12.5 million; and expanded its campus by purchasing the Watterson Medical Center, an 80,000-square-foot healthcare facility on 7.3 acres that houses a mix of primary care and specialty services. Upon arriving at Bellarmine, Dr. Donovan embraced increased shared governance and transparency while launching a comprehensive strategic planning process. The resulting strategic plan,
Tradition & Transformation, was approved by the university’s Board of Trustees in 2019 with a focus on student success and academic innovation. The strategic planning process also formalized Dr. Donovan’s vision to elevate the university’s athletics programs to the NCAA Division I level, which occurred in 2020 through an invitation to join the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Dr. Donovan’s leadership has reshaped Bellarmine into an institution focused on partnerships that position the university and its growing number of academic programs as workforce development leaders in Louisville and the surrounding region. As a result, Bellarmine graduates achieve employment and salary outcomes that far exceed regional benchmarks. She guided the university through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully moving traditional undergraduate instruction to an all-online experience in just one week in March 2020. Her steadfast focus on student access and community service resulted in two prestigious new Carnegie Classifications: Bellarmine is one of fewer than 375 colleges to earn the Elective Classification for Community Engagement, and one of only 15% of colleges to earn the Opportunity College and University – Higher Access, Higher Earnings designation. In 2024, she beat her own record to achieve the most successful year of fundraising in Bellarmine’s history, with more than $18 million in total giving.
In the community, Dr. Donovan’s current board service includes Greater Louisville Inc., Impetus for a Better Louisville, and the Atlantic Sun Conference. Among other honors, she was named to Business First of Louisville’s Power 50 List and Most Admired CEOs Award, Today’s Woman Magazine Most Admired Woman in Education Award, the John Henry Newman Medal at Loyola University Maryland in 2017, the John Fisher Alumni Award at Buena Vista University in 2014 and the Reverend Victor R. Yanitelli, S.J. Award from the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators (JASPA) in 2010. She has served as a mentor to several colleagues who have become university presidents.
She has a Ph.D. in higher education from St. Louis University, a master’s degree in higher education from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Buena Vista University. She is married to Dr. Bill Donovan, a retired associate professor of Latin American history.