David Dausey, Duquesne University's executive vice president and provost, is officially set to take the helm as the university’s 14th president on July 1, 2026. A Pittsburgh native who grew up in Jefferson Hills and the Mon Valley, Dausey has been a visible architect of Duquesne’s recent expansion, including the launch of its medical school. His selection follows a national search and comes as longtime president Ken Gormley prepares to move into a chancellor role. Students, faculty, and regional partners are already looking to Dausey to balance academic growth with the day-to-day needs of the community.
University leaders are framing the pick as a deliberate play for stability and momentum. Board Chair Diane Hupp said Dausey’s values and experience uniquely align with Duquesne’s mission, and the board has called him a nationally recognized leader in higher education and public health. In public remarks about the appointment, Dausey has leaned on themes of student access and community engagement. As outlined by Duquesne University, he will assume the presidency on July 1, 2026.
A public-health leader with serious academic chops
Dausey is an epidemiologist by training who previously worked as a researcher at the RAND Corporation and holds an honorary Distinguished Service Professorship at Carnegie Mellon University. Before joining Duquesne’s leadership team in 2018, he served as provost at Mercyhurst University, bringing experience in research strategy, enrollment, and online learning. His resume lists degrees from Mercyhurst and Yale, an Ed.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and postgraduate leadership training at Harvard. Carnegie Mellon University documents his academic and public-health work.
What his tenure could mean for the medical school and region
As provost, Dausey played a lead role in building Duquesne’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, which welcomed its inaugural class in 2024 and was later named the Nasuti College of Osteopathic Medicine. University materials credit him with helping to design the curriculum and modern training facilities that leaders say will expand Duquesne’s capacity to train physicians for underserved urban and rural communities. The college’s early enrollment numbers and facilities investments have already started to reshape Duquesne’s footprint in local health care workforce planning, according to the university’s account of the medical school’s opening and timeline.
Behind the scenes, Duquesne has also been lining up the leadership handoff. The university named Sarah Ewing as its next provost in early May, a move local coverage has said should smooth the transition as Gormley becomes chancellor and Dausey steps into the presidency. Reporters and higher education observers have framed the two hires as coordinated steps meant to preserve momentum on enrollment, program growth, and clinical partnerships. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered the Ewing appointment and the broader stewardship plan.
Roots and reaction
Profiles of Dausey consistently highlight his Mon Valley upbringing and first-generation college background as central to his focus on access and service, themes he has returned to in recent interviews. The personality piece in the Pittsburgh Business Times underscores those roots and his emphasis on Spiritan values, while local outlets have noted the university’s wider plans around clinical training and philanthropy. Campus groups and community partners say they are now watching to see how Dausey translates that personal story into concrete moves on affordability and workforce pathways.
As Dausey prepares to take office, university officials say his mix of public-health expertise and administrative experience positions Duquesne to deepen ties with regional hospitals and expand training pipelines for the region. Near-term benchmarks are expected to include sustaining enrollment, scaling clinical rotations linked to the Nasuti College and rolling out the Bridges common-learning curriculum across programs. Local outlets and university statements will be tracking the new president’s first public agenda in the weeks leading up to July 1. WPXI and other outlets reported on the appointment when it was announced.
