Honor recognizes McGowan’s transformational leadership of Bellarmine for 20 years
Video: 1990 inaugural address excerpt, with updated scenes of campus
When
Dr. Joseph J. McGowan was inaugurated as the third president of what was then Bellarmine College in 1990, he spoke of creating a primarily residential college, nurturing faculty as the institution’s greatest asset, and raising an endowment to support future growth.
Twenty years in, McGowan’s original vision has been largely realized, and Bellarmine University continues to expand.
Recognizing two decades of leadership and service to Bellarmine and Louisville, Bellarmine’s Board of Trustees selected McGowan as the 12th person to be “knighted” by the university. The ceremony took place during Bellarmine’s annual Knight of Knights fundraising event on October 8. The university has bestowed the honor upon outstanding individuals since 1998 in recognition of support and service to Bellarmine University.
Under McGowan’s leadership, Bellarmine has more than quadrupled its endowment, nearly tripled the number of buildings on campus, added nearly 25 percent more students, increased the number of full-time faculty by 68 percent, doubled the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees offered, added the school’s first NCAA Division I sport (lacrosse), and nearly quadrupled the number of students living on campus, qualifying Bellarmine as a “primarily residential” campus by Carnegie Foundation standards.
“This year, the trustees reviewed Dr. McGowan’s list of possible nominees for the Knight of Knights, but ultimately decided that he would be the best choice,” said Tom Thomas, chairman of Bellarmine’s Board of Trustees. “Jay has been a transformational leader for Bellarmine. His leadership has been good for the university, but it has also been beneficial for our city and the region, which are in desperate need of a more highly educated workforce in order to remain competitive.”
In 2005, responding to a challenge by the Board of Trustees to present a vision for what the school should aspire to become over the next 15 years, McGowan developed Vision 2020, which set a broad vision for new schools, new majors, new buildings and new ways to serve Louisville and Kentucky. Vision 2020 calls for Bellarmine to become the premier independent Catholic university in the South, and thereby the leading private university in the commonwealth and region.
About Dr. McGowan
McGowan came to Bellarmine in 1990 after serving for 22 years at Fordham University in New York as a vice president and dean. Prior to that he was an admissions and financial aid officer at the University of Notre Dame. He received his doctorate in higher education from Columbia University in New York and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame. He also is a graduate of Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.
In higher education, McGowan is the immediate past chairman of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and has served on the boards of the American Council on Higher Education, the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities, and Kentuckiana Metroversity.
In Louisville, he has served on the executive committee of Greater Louisville Inc., and the boards of the Frazier International History Museum, Speed Art Museum, and the Greater Louisville Health Enterprises Network. He served as chairman for a $22 million Metro United Way campaign drive.
McGowan and his wife, Maureen, live in Glenview.
Past Bellarmine Knights include: Owsley Brown Frazier (1998), the late Monsignor Alfred F. Horrigan (1999), Nolen Allen (2001), James A. Patterson (2002), Bill Samuels (2003), Dr. Allan Lansing (2004), C. Edward Glasscock (2005), Joseph P. Clayton (2006), Stephen A. Williams (2007), Victor Staffieri (2008), and Leonard M. Spalding (2009).
About Bellarmine
Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs, a doctor of nursing practice and a doctor of physical therapy. U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review consistently rank Bellarmine among America’s best institutions for higher education. The university is celebrating 60 years of academic excellence for lives of leadership and service.