Darlene Weaver has been named the twentieth president of the University of Dayton in Ohio. Upon assuming her role on July 1, 2027, Dr. Weaver will be the first woman to lead the university in its 176-year history.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Dayton enrolls more than 7,700 undergraduates, 47 percent of whom are women. The university also has a graduate population of nearly 2,800 students.
Since July 2023, Dr. Weaver has served as the University of Dayton’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Before joining Dayton, Dr. Weaver spent a decade at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she served four years as associate provost for academic affairs and professor of theology. She has also taught at Villanova University in suburban Philadelphia and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. A nationally recognized ethicist and moral theologian, Dr. Weaver has authored two monographs: The Acting Person and Christian Moral Life (Georgetown University Press, 2011) and Self Love and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2002).
“I am deeply honored by the board of trustees’ confidence and humbled by the opportunity to serve the University of Dayton in this new role,” said Dr. Weaver. “UD is a remarkable Catholic, Marianist university because of its people: our students, faculty, staff, alumni, families, Marianists and friends. Together, we will continue to build on the university’s strengths, make the decisions required for long-term vitality and deepen our commitment to educating students for lives of purpose, leadership and service.”
Dr. Weaver is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She holds a master’s degree in religion from Yale University and a Ph.D. in ethics with a focus on moral agency from the University of Chicago.