A Message from SLU President Edward Feser

July 1, 2025

Greetings, Saint Louis University community!

I am thrilled to start my first day as SLU’s 34th president.

Thank you to President Emeritus Pestello for his outstanding leadership, and to both Fred and Fran for their inspiring commitment to SLU and St. Louis.

My wife, Kathy, and I are honored to follow in their footsteps.

We are also honored to join you at this incredible institution. SLU has:

• A deeply welcoming community of more than 15,000 students from all backgrounds and walks of life, studying on spectacular campuses in two of the world’s great cities, St. Louis and Madrid;
• An exceptionally talented and dedicated faculty and staff, hailing from all over the world;
• A network of over 134,000 alumni who truly love this university – Billikens who are educators, physicians, nurses, lawyers, entrepreneurs, scholars, social workers, pilots, policy makers, leaders, Jesuit priests and brothers, and professionals who serve in every imaginable field;
• A research enterprise that has doubled in size in less than a decade, making us one of only 52 private top-tier research universities in the U.S.;
• National recognition and distinction in fields as diverse as health law, medieval and renaissance studies, international business, vaccine development, entrepreneurship, geospatial science, and more; 
• The excitement of Billiken athletics, with student-athletes and coaches who lead with gratitude and compete with passion and integrity;
• And an unwavering commitment to the city we call home. SLU has built innovative partnerships that help to develop the region’s workforce, increase healthcare access, and spur new businesses, housing, and jobs.  

These are significant strengths, which reflect your impressive accomplishments and contributions. 

Working together and in fellowship, we will build on them in service of the greater—and common—good.

As we look forward together:

• We will prioritize the holistic growth and success of every single student who walks through our doors.
• We will build our research enterprise with bold choices and focus, seeking high impact and true distinction that capitalizes on SLU’s breadth of excellence across the humanities, the sciences, medicine, health-related disciplines, and professional fields.
• We will improve our practices, using our resources and agility to maximum effect, and making it easier for students to engage and faculty and staff to do their work.
• And we will continue to collaborate with community partners to help build a thriving city and region for all.

We will do all of this by relying on our Catholic faith and Jesuit values – working with hope, humility, care for the least among us, and fearlessness in the face of challenge or injustice.

The future for Saint Louis University is bright. Not out of luck or as of right. But because we will make it so.

Thank you for your trust, and for your dedication to this amazing institution.

Let’s get started.

Edward Feser, Ph.D.
President