President Ken Gormley to Step Down in 2026, Assume Role of Chancellor

“President Gormley has amassed a remarkable record of accomplishments during his decade as President and his 30 years at the University,” said Diane Hupp, Chair of the Board and an alumna. “Ken’s leadership and vision have allowed Duquesne’s reputation as a national Catholic university to soar during his time in office,” she said. “We’re grateful that he has agreed to serve in the role of Chancellor after he steps down as president next year, allowing a seamless transition while utilizing his abundant talents to continue the positive momentum of the University.”

Gormley, who turns 70 next week on March 19, stated that he has no plans to slow down. 

“I’m a firm believer in strategic, long-term planning,” he said. “I still feel like I’m 30 years old, but the number of candles on my birthday cake keeps growing. I feel it’s important to create a smooth transition plan for new leadership to blossom and excel, if we’re going to make sure the successes of the past decade continue. It’s not enough to look one year ahead at a time—I believe in creating 10- and 30-year plans. My wife, Laura, and I felt this was perfect timing to begin a thoughtful transition.”

Gormley added that he was extremely pleased that the Board has asked him to stay on as Chancellor, a role that has been bestowed on several prominent past presidents, including Dr. John E. Murray, Jr. (in 2001) and Fr. Henry J. McAnulty (in 1980). According to Hupp, in his role as Chancellor, Gormley “will work in close association with the new President, in maintaining and cultivating relationships with key alumni, foundation leaders, community leaders, government officials, and others, while also working on special projects as determined by the President in consultation with the Board Chair.” Gormley also plans to continue his scholarly interest in constitutional law and presidential history, with a goal of working on a new book project.

John “Jack” McGinley, Board Chair Emeritus and law school alumnus who worked closely with Gormley from 2017 until McGinley rotated off the Board last October, stated that this succession plan was a “win-win” for the University. 

“Ken is a rare academic leader who has boundless energy but also takes a long view when it comes to the best interests of the University that he cares about so deeply,” said McGinley. “His legacy as President is already cemented firmly in the history of Duquesne. Some alums call it a ‘Golden Age of Duquesne.’ Ken is a natural fit for the role of Chancellor, so that he can continue to assist in the upward trajectory of the University.”

“For nearly nine years, Ken Gormley has provided strong and steady leadership guiding Duquesne University securely into the future as its 13th President,” said the Most Rev. David A. Zubik, Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. “The Board of the University and the Spiritan Community have jointly appointed Ken as Chancellor when he completes his term as President. As a proud alumnus of Duquesne, I offer him both my congratulations for this significant recognition and gratitude for his outstanding forward leadership.” 

“The Spiritan Congregation is heartened that Ken and the Board are paving the way for a leadership transition in such a thoughtful and strategic way,” said Fr. John Fogarty, C.S.Sp., Provincial of the U.S. Province of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spiritans, the Catholic religious congregation that founded Duquesne. “Ken has consistently uplifted the Spiritan mission and tradition of Duquesne University throughout his presidency. It is reassuring that his deep commitment to serving God by serving our students will continue, in new ways, for years to come.

As President, Gormley has made his mark in dramatic ways. In an ambitious move that reflected the bigger goals of his administration, Gormley launched the largest capital campaign in University history—titled “IGNITE”—with a goal of raising $333 million (one third of a billion dollars). Fundraising during Gormley’s tenure shattered all past records and then shattered his own records. Last month, he announced that the University had exceeded its goal nearly a half-year before the campaign’s July 1 endpoint—hitting an unprecedented $335 million mark. He then announced that the IGNITE campaign would continue in full force until July 1, setting its sights on addressing still-pressing student needs and tackling new, ambitious projects.

High on the list of Gormley’s successes was the launching of a College of Osteopathic Medicine, which opened its doors in July of 2024. Even during the COVID pandemic, Gormley led the drive among foundation leaders, the board and alumni to raise funds to get the project off the ground. With a focus on producing primary care doctors to fill an urgent need in society, including in underserved urban and rural areas, the opening of the College of Medicine fulfilled a dream of the Spiritan priests who founded the University, who had tried unsuccessfully to open a medical school as early as 1910. Gormley stated at the ribbon-cutting of the new school in the winter of 2024: “It may have taken us 114 years, but we got the job done.”

Gormley also secured the largest gift commitment in University history—$50 million from prominent law alumnus Tom Kline of Philadelphia—which led to the renaming of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, an infusion of funds for student scholarships, faculty grants, and a major renovation of the law school building—as well as a steady rise in that school’s rankings.

In athletics, Gormley worked alongside Athletic Director Dave Harper and the Board to undertake a major renovation of the newly named UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, paying tribute to Chuck Cooper, who starred for the Dukes in the late 1940s and made history by becoming the first Black player drafted by the NBA (the Boston Celtics) in 1950. Gormley also backed the hiring of new men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot in 2017. This paid off, with the Dukes basketball team winning the A-10 Championship in 2023 for the first time in 47 years, and then winning the first round of the NCAA tournament in Omaha against Brigham Young, with Gormley celebrating on the court with the players.

Gormley has enthusiastically supported all students sports on campus. In 2023, he directed a $1.2 million unrestricted gift to be used for club sports programs at Duquesne to assist those 14 club teams and help pay for uniforms, equipment and travel for both male and female participants.

Even beyond athletics, Gormley’s trademark has been his prioritizing the best interests of the students. His ever-present appearance at student activities and his fun-loving engagement with them—hosting annual events like “Pancakes with the President” on Academic Walk before final exams, “Tea & Honey Jam” in the fall and “Donuts with the President” in the winter—have made enthusiastic student interaction a hallmark of his presidency. At the top of the Student Union, Gormley built a new Center for Career Development for students, because the old facility in Rockwell Hall’s basement was inadequate. He elevated the international and study abroad programs in Rome, Dublin and other locations, citing the positive, life-changing experiences his own children had experienced in these programs. Gormley also continues to stay connected with students by teaching his popular course in “Presidents and the Constitution” to undergrads each spring in the law school, in conjunction with a young political science professor, Dr. Kristen Coopie.

On the academic front, Gormley has brought to life a steady stream of innovative programs and initiatives, in many cases helping to implement them himself. These have included creating the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology and Law in conjunction with the Hillman Foundation; the Doherty Yoder Institute for Ethics and Integrity in Journalism and Media; the Center for Emerging and Innovative Media (a cutting-edge recording and film studio); the August Wilson House Fellowships for artists of color, courtesy of the Nancy Jones Beard Foundation; popular Rangos Prizes for faculty and student innovation; the Eugene P. Beard Center for Student Success in the School of Business; the Bob and Lou Mallet Centers for innovation in the Business School; Eugene P. Beard Presidential Prizes for innovation and distinction; the Ed and Karen Fritzky Chair in Integrative Health; the Shear Family Foundation project supporting the Center for Integrative Health and research dealing with childhood asthma; the Peirce Family Foundation program for training teachers of children with dyslexia; the Thomas R. Kline Center for Judicial Education; the construction of McGinley Hall on Forbes Avenue; a successful pre-law program and certificate; and renaming the School of Science and Engineering in 2023, adding a suite of new engineering programs and the inaugural Costello Family Endowed Chair in Engineering to address demand by students and the workforce.

Regarding Gormley’s record, Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh said, “Clearly, the Gormley years have emerged as golden years for Duquesne, which is great for the entire community.”

Gormley began his career at Duquesne as a young law professor in 1994, after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh (summa cum laude) and Harvard Law School; serving as a federal judicial clerk to Judge Donald E. Ziegler (a Duquesne alum); teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; engaging in private practice at the firm of Mansmann, Cindrich & Titus (later Cindrich & Titus); serving as a special clerk to then-Justice Ralph Cappy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court; serving as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission; becoming the President of the Allegheny County Bar  Association, the first academic to hold that position in the organization’s 137-year history; and serving as Mayor of his hometown of Forest Hills from 1998-2001, taking his children to Borough Council meetings and involving his whole family in community activities.

As a law professor at Duquesne, Gormley established himself as highly respected constitutional scholar, in Pennsylvania and nationally. He authored the leading treatise on the Pennsylvania Constitution, which has been cited extensively by courts in Pennsylvania and beyond. He was nominated for a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court by Governor Tom Wolf and earlier, for a vacancy on the Commonwealth Court by Governor Ed Rendell; each of those nominations stalled due to political stalemates. Yet Gormley continued to increase his stature as a legal scholar, becoming a sought-after expert and commentator on U.S. presidential history, and testifying three times in the United States Senate on constitutional and presidential powers issues.

Gormley also became a best-selling author. In 1997, Gormley published Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation (Perseus Books), the authorized biography of one of the leading lawyers and public servants of the 20th century. The Cox book was awarded the 1999 Bruce K. Gould Book Award for an outstanding publication relating to the law. In 2010, he burst into national prominence when he published The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr (Crown), a New York Times bestseller chronicling the scandals that nearly destroyed the Clinton Presidency. The Death of American Virtue received a 2011 Silver-Gavel Award (Honorable Mention) from the American Bar Association as well as critical acclaim in publications including the New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice), Washington Post Book World (a top 20 non-fiction book of the year), The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and dozens of others.

His emergence nationally coincided with his time serving as Dean of what is now the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University. Although Gormley took the reins of the School at a time when law school enrollments nationally were in rapid decline, during his eight years as Dean, he led a transformation that elevated the School to national prominence. Gormley dramatically enhanced faculty scholarship; placed renewed emphasis on teaching excellence; built the Tribone Center for Clinical Legal Education on Fifth Avenue, giving students hands-on experience while directly serving the community; developed a highly successful bar preparation program, leading to a new record of achievement of graduates sitting for the bar exam; and caused the School’s national ranking to soar, all the while leading by example. 

“Ken Gormley has been a transformative force on the Bluff. He has raised the regional and national profile of both the University and law school,” said Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Christine Donohue, a 1980 graduate of the Duquesne Kline School of Law. “As an alumna of the law school, it gives me pleasure to cite Ken, the face of Duquesne University, in my opinions. There are very few people in the western Pennsylvania region who have a higher profile within the community than Ken Gormley. It is hard to quantify the value that he brings to Duquesne University.” 

Gormley’s most recent non-fiction book, The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History, was published by NYU Press in 2016, and likewise received national acclaim. That book recently came out in a two-volume paperback, with a new chapter added on the first Trump Presidency.

Gormley has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, Morning Joe, Hardball with Chris Matthews, NPR’s Fresh Air and hundreds of television and radio shows in the United States and worldwide. In 2021, Gormley published his first novel, The Heiress of Pittsburgh (Sunbury Press)—part legal thriller and part love letter to his hometown—which earned praise from renowned authors including Scott Turow and John Edgar Wideman, and Pittsburgh notables including Franco Harris and Art Rooney II. Royalties from the book have been donated by Gormley and his wife, Laura, to a fund at Duquesne University for students interested in pursuing creative writing.

Gormley has also written opinion pieces for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, Politico, Yahoo News and numerous other publications. 

A master when it comes to organizing major events, many of them nationally televised, Gormley most recently brought U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to campus; organized a National Conference on the First Amendment which attracted luminaries from across the country; created an annual program on Civil Discourse for students; and organized a retrospective on the 50th anniversary of “The Saturday Night Massacre” of the Nixon Presidency at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., featuring retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, iconic journalist and author Bob Woodward and others. He also organized “Evening with the Stars” during Homecoming at the conclusion of the COVID pandemic, bringing alumnus and NBA basketball star Norm Nixon and his wife, actress and dancer Debbie Allen, to campus for a Hollywood-style show.

Gormley continues to remain active in the broader community, serving on the Boards of the Heinz History Center, The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Duquesne Club, The Eradicate Hate Global Summit and the Allegheny Conference. He also chairs the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education (PCHE), consisting of presidents of colleges and universities in the region.

Among numerous other awards, Gormley was the recipient of the 2024 Art Rooney Award, bestowed by the Pittsburgh Steelers for outstanding contributions to the community and the region. 

He and his wife, Laura, have been married for 38 years, and still live in the same house in Forest Hills they purchased shortly after they were married. Three of their four children now hold degrees from Duquesne, and two of them met their spouses there and were married in the Duquesne Chapel (making Gormley the first president in Duquesne’s history to have children attend the University or wed there).

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 
The publication, Man on a Mission, provides an accounting of President Gormley’s professional history at Duquesne. Photo resources in the publication can be made available on request.

Other testimonials: 

“To know President Gormley is to witness an unwavering commitment to every facet of the Duquesne University community. His leadership goes beyond his role of President—exemplifying an endorser of academic excellence, a contributor for student development and achievement, and an advocate for all members of the Duquesne family. His influence resonates in every corner of Duquesne, and his ability to inspire and guide our vibrant community is a testament to the 30 years he has given this University.” —Skyler Wrubleski ’26, Biomedical Engineering Mathematics & Nursing, Honors College, and Director of Orientation

“From its beginnings in 1878 to its prestigious place today among America’s top-rated universities, the Spiritans established Duquesne as a university where students from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to learn and succeed. President Gormley is the embodiment of this Duquesne mission and Spiritan pedagogy in which Duquesne’s foundation lies. Having seen President Gormley through the lens of a professor, university president and mentor, I can attest to how great of a servant leader and person he is, and how lucky we are to have had such a positive presence in the Duquesne community for the past 30 years." —Claudio Simione, Duquesne Student Government Association President, 2023-2024

“Ken Gormley personifies the enthusiastic spirit, hometown pride and boundless hopefulness that define Pittsburgh. And while that is apparent from his decades of work in the public—whether in educating thousands of college and law students, his extensive writings, or even during his time as Mayor of Forest Hills—to focus there would be to miss the very best of ‘Professor G.’ Take a walk with him, and you’ll see his most inspiring moments are the briefest interactions he has with fellow Pittsburghers, across all walks of life. You’ll see he has deep friendships with everyone and that after his one true love, Laura, Pittsburgh itself is his lifelong and best friend.”—David D. Cardone L ’03, founding partner, DDWK (San Diego, CA)

Duquesne University

Founded in 1878, Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation's top Catholic universities for its award-winning faculty and horizon-expanding education. A campus of nearly 8,200 graduate and undergraduate students, Duquesne prepares students by having them work alongside faculty to discover and reach their goals. The University's academic programs, community service and commitment to equity and opportunity in the Pittsburgh region have earned national acclaim.

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