At a time when higher education institutions in the Pittsburgh region and around the country face uncertainty, Duquesne University president Ken Gormley has announced he will step down from his role in July 2026.
90.5 WESA’s Priyanka Tewari spoke with Gormley about what is ahead for Duquesne, his future role as chancellor of the university and some of the challenges facing higher education.
This interview transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Priyanka Tewari: You recently announced that you would be stepping aside as president of Duquesne University [in July 2026]. What prompted you to make that decision?
Ken Gormley: First of all, let me get clear: The board has kindly asked me to stay on as chancellor, which is a great honor. There have been two presidents before who stayed on as chancellor.
I have every intention of being around for a long time. But I've been at the university now 31 years, as a law professor then dean of the law school before president. It will be 10 years next year. I've spent my whole life and career at Duquesne. I love the place. I want to make sure that all the things we've been doing keep rolling forward. When the board suggested [I stay on as chancellor], it seemed like a perfect fit.
Under your leadership, Duquesne undertook the largest capital campaign in its history, the IGNITE campaign, and the university recently announced it surpassed its $333 million goal several months ahead of schedule. What were your hopes when you launched the campaign — and why do you think it has been so successful?
Well, it was scary because anytime you put a number out there, if you don't get it, you leave with your tail between your legs. And we are over $335 million — just saying. But it’s not about that number. It's about the things we're doing with it.
Starting the medical school was a big piece of [the story]. [The board stepped] up, and foundations and others, because we had this vision of a college of osteopathic medicine that would serve a giant need in our region and beyond of creating primary care doctors to work in underserved urban and rural communities.
[We named] the law school after Tom Kline, one of our great alums, and [created] a program to educate trial judges and other judges in Pennsylvania.
So it's the projects. Those ideas of how we create the new era, the new future for Pittsburgh are part of what the alums and foundation leaders and others are getting behind.
Since President Trump took office in January, he has issued an unprecedented number of executive orders at an unprecedented speed, and that too without any regulatory review or oversight. Do you have any advice for educational institutions, research institutions, especially in, and Pittsburgh has many of them. what would you suggest they do in a moment like this when there is so much uncertainty?
My advice is to just keep your cool. That's my advice to my kids and my friends and everyone. When you look at history, there are a lot of scary unplanned moments, and that's the definition of life.
You have to figure out how to navigate your own little piece of the world. My piece of the world is Duquesne University on the bluff in Pittsburgh. I have to make sure these students get the best possible education and go out and make significant contributions to society. That is our mission as a Catholic and Spiritan institution.
Everyone has to worry about their pieces of the world to make sure they're operating correctly. Even craziness in Washington ultimately will be overpowered by good things happening in everyone's own little lane, everyone's own little niche.
This presidency has also scared a few people abroad, with the efforts to deport international students, even legal residents, over political views. How do you address the concerns of those who want to call Duquesne — or any university in Pittsburgh — home?
That's a very important issue. And immediately after the first executive orders from the Trump administration, I literally dropped everything — it was almost like we did during Covid — and broke down into working groups. We spent a lot of time working with immigration attorneys, working with [federal and state] officials to calm people down again.
We have no indication right now that we have any undocumented immigrants on our campus. We also don't have any indication that the federal agents are planning on barnstorming into our campus at any time soon. We're in constant communication through our own, public safety operation.
But a lot of it is just making sure our professionals are meeting individually with students who have these concerns. They're real concerns. They don't know what to expect, reading the news of what's happening in other cities. [We are] making sure we gave every student the phone number of our public safety office. If you are confronted by someone and you feel uncomfortable, you have us.
So what is next for you? What do you plan to do once you are no longer president?
Well, fortunately, the board has asked me to stay on as chancellor. And I want to work on another book. I miss the writing.
I [also] have four kids, five grand babies, and one more in the hopper, due in May. So I want to spend some time with them. My kids literally grew up at Duquesne. We took them to breakfast with Santa. Now we're taking their kids to breakfast with Santa at Duquesne. It's the most beautiful thing. I don't plan on going anywhere. I'm not retiring and I have no interest in moving to Florida. I want to be in Pittsburgh.
