David Livingston returns to Mercyhurst as university’s 14th president

Former faculty member and advancement leader brings nearly 30 years of higher education experience as Mercyhurst begins its second century.

For David J. Livingston, Ph.D., returning to Mercyhurst University represents more than a homecoming. It is a return to the place where much of his professional identity was formed.

Livingston began a two-year appointment as Mercyhurst’s 14th president on July 1, bringing nearly 30 years of higher education experience to an institution where he previously spent 16 years as a faculty member and vice president for advancement. He succeeds Kathleen A. Getz, Ph.D., who retired June 30 following five years as president.

“Mercyhurst is really the place where I became a professional,” Livingston said. “It was my first faculty position and the place where I first became an administrator. I learned here what it meant to serve a university both as an academic and as a leader. To have the opportunity to return and serve Mercyhurst in this role is a tremendous honor.”

His first years at Mercyhurst also brought relationships that would shape his approach to education and leadership. Livingston points to mentors and colleagues including Barry McAndrew, Bud Brown, Mary Hembrow Snyder, and members of the Sisters of Mercy community who helped him understand not only how to become a better professor and administrator but also the Mercy charism at the heart of the institution.

Much has changed since Livingston last worked at Mercyhurst.

The university has moved to NCAA Division I athletics, closed its North East campus, consolidated and expanded health sciences programming in Erie, and incorporated the former Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse into the university’s main campus. He has been particularly struck by the growth of Mercyhurst’s health sciences programs over the past decade.

But some of what matters most, he said, remains immediately recognizable.

“There are people here who deeply care about the success of each individual student and who remain committed to the vision of the Sisters of Mercy,” Livingston said. “The Sisters put their blood, sweat, and tears into creating this place, and generations of lay colleagues have continued to lean into that mission. You can still feel and see that across the campus. That is a powerful example for all of us who work here.”

As Mercyhurst celebrates its Centennial, Livingston believes retelling those stories is especially important—not simply as an exercise in remembering the past, but as motivation for those entrusted with carrying the university forward.

After leaving Mercyhurst, Livingston served as president of Lourdes University in Ohio from 2013 to 2016 before becoming president of Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, where he served for a decade.

At Lewis, the university achieved record enrollment, doubled its endowment, completed a fundraising campaign of more than $50 million, expanded academic offerings, invested in campus facilities, and completed a merger with St. Augustine College.

Those experiences reinforced for Livingston the importance of institutions being willing to evolve.

“Higher education is facing real challenges, but I don’t believe those challenges need to overwhelm a university,” he said. “Institutions have to be willing to be creative, to be bold, and to take thoughtful risks. Simply watching things happen around you is not a strategy for significant success. You have to continue investing in the future while remaining grounded in who you are.”

That balance—remaining grounded in mission while continuing to evolve—is central to how Livingston sees Mercyhurst entering its second century.

He believes the traditional residential undergraduate experience will remain the core of the university. At the same time, he sees opportunities to extend a Mercyhurst education to more learners at different stages of their lives.

“If we believe a Mercyhurst education is transformative—and I certainly do—we should not limit that impact only to students who are 18 to 22 years old,” Livingston said. “The education and experience our faculty and staff provide can be transformative for someone who is 18, 35, or 50. Finding appropriate ways to expand that reach will be important to Mercyhurst’s future.”

Livingston sees particular opportunity in building upon areas where Mercyhurst has already demonstrated strength and distinction.

That includes renewing and strengthening the regional and national visibility of established programs, while continuing the university’s growth in health sciences, an area where both Mercyhurst and the larger economy have experienced significant demand.

For Livingston, that does not mean identifying a small group of programs as institutional “winners” at the expense of others. Instead, it means recognizing proven strengths, responding intelligently to student and workforce needs, and looking for opportunities where Mercyhurst can make an even greater impact.

The larger case for higher education itself is something Livingston believes universities must continue making.

He points to shortages in nursing, education, and other professional fields as reminders of the important role universities play in preparing people for meaningful work. But he also believes the value of higher education extends beyond employment.

“Higher education opens people to new ideas and teaches them to solve problems and understand the world differently,” Livingston said. “Preparing people to become healers, artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, and other professionals is critically important but so is helping people become thoughtful citizens of the world. That continues to matter.”

Livingston said that belief is particularly meaningful within Catholic higher education, where professional preparation, intellectual development, service, and the formation of the whole person are deeply connected. In an age of AI, understanding what it means to be fully human will play an increasingly important role.

His familiarity with Mercyhurst allows him to begin that work without the lengthy orientation usually accompanying a new presidency. He already understands the university’s culture, mission, and history, while his years away have given him a different vantage point from which to consider its future.

Although his appointment spans two years, Livingston does not view the period simply as a bridge between administrations. He sees an opportunity for purposeful leadership and meaningful institutional progress as Mercyhurst concludes its first century and begins its next.

“My familiarity with Mercyhurst means we can begin the work immediately,” Livingston said. “I come back with a great deal of optimism about what this university is and what it can become.”

That optimism, he said, begins with three things.

First is Mercyhurst’s history and the tenacious belief in the power of education demonstrated by the Sisters of Mercy who founded the institution and gave so much to ensure its success.

Second is the commitment Livingston sees among today’s faculty and staff—people who have embraced the mission entrusted to them nearly a century ago.

And third is the community those commitments create for students: a place where professionals do more than teach classes or perform jobs but walk the halls, develop relationships, mentor students, and help shape their lives.

“That combination is incredibly powerful,” Livingston said. “The Sisters established something here that generations of people have continued to believe in. You see that commitment in our colleagues, and ultimately our students are the beneficiaries of it. That gives me tremendous optimism about Mercyhurst and its future.”

For Livingston, returning to Mercyhurst is therefore both personally and professionally very satisfying: an opportunity to serve the community that helped shape him while helping position that same community for what comes next.

As Mercyhurst begins its second century, he believes honoring the people who built the university means continuing their willingness to work, adapt, take risks, and invest in the future.

And, a century after the Sisters of Mercy opened the doors, Livingston believes the purpose behind that work remains remarkably familiar: giving students an education capable of changing not only what they do but who they become.