Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. has announced he is stepping down as president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) at the conclusion of his five year term on August 15, 2025. AJCU’s Vice President of Government Relations, Jenny Smulson, will serve as interim executive director while the AJCU Board of Directors conducts a search for Fr. Garanzini’s successor.
Fr. Garanzini brought to this role the experience earned in a long and distinguished career in Jesuit higher education. He served as president of Loyola University Chicago for fourteen years, after serving as special assistant to the president of Georgetown University and academic vice president at Saint Louis University. Before he came to AJCU in 2020, he served in Rome as Secretary for Jesuit Higher Education and headed the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU).
At AJCU, Fr. Garanzini brought together its members around shared mission and purpose. From reminding Congress of the importance of Pell grants, to helping students achieve the American dream, to deepening partnerships among Jesuit institutions, Fr. Garanzini pushed the work of Jesuit higher education forward.
Under his leadership, AJCU significantly expanded its mission and formation programs, including this year’s launch of the new Ignatian Executive Leadership Academy (IELA). Hundreds of faculty, administrators and trustees now participate in AJCU’s programs every year to collaborate with each other, increase their understanding of the Ignatian heritage of their institutions, and cultivate their leadership skills. He also furthered efforts in trustee formation by expanding the AJCU Trustee Forum, launching the online trustee magazine, In Fides, and spearheading the creation of a forthcoming guide for board chairs of Jesuit colleges and universities.
Fr. Garanzini oversaw an update of the Mission Priority Examen (MPE): a process for institutional reflection and priority-setting at Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Belize and Canada. The process (undertaken by each institution every seven years) culminates in the affirmation of a school’s Jesuit, Catholic mission and identity by the Jesuit Superior General in Rome.
Fr. Garanzini’s vision and commitment to mission were manifested in the 2024 AJCU Faith, Justice and Reconciliation Assembly at Loyola University Chicago, which grew out of the national Commitment to Justice Conference. The Assembly featured the work of six Commissions guided by Fr. Garanzini to address major issues of faith, justice, and reconciliation affecting Jesuit colleges and universities today.
Using his own global reach, Fr. Garanzini expanded AJCU’s focus outward. In 2022, AJCU hosted the International Association of Jesuit Universities Assembly at Boston College. This event featured a keynote address by Rev. Arturo Sosa, S.J., the Jesuit Superior General, and focused on collective discernment about the future of Jesuit higher education with leaders of Jesuit schools around the world.
In 2023, Fr. Garanzini strengthened AJCU’s ties to Central America through the launch of the #TodosSomosUCA (“We Are All UCA”) campaign. This initiative helped to increase awareness of the August 2023 seizure of the University of Central America (UCA) by the government of Nicaragua, and raise funds for students to continue their education at other Jesuit colleges and universities across the region.
Long recognized as a strategic thinker, Fr. Garanzini oversaw a “re-branding” of AJCU: under his tenure, the Association launched a new logo and website. AJCU also commissioned a first-of-its-kind national study on perceptions of Jesuit education by high school students, parents and guidance counselors.
Throughout his decades-long career in Jesuit higher education, Fr. Garanzini has always served as an advocate for students in need. As president of AJCU, he affirmed the Association’s commitment to serving its member institutions through continued partnerships with members of the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, engagement with Congressional members and staff, and the reinstatement of the AJCU Congressional Breakfast in March 2025.
In a statement, AJCU’s board chair, Tania Tetlow, J.D. (president of Fordham University), thanked Fr. Garanzini for his leadership of AJCU. She said, “We are eternally grateful for Fr. Garanzini’s wisdom, creativity, and tireless efforts to promote Jesuit higher education.”
Fr. Garanzini has been asked by the Secretary for Higher Education of the Society of Jesus to head a task force on a future global Jesuit university. He is also working with the Jesuit Province of Japan on a proposed Peace and Reconciliation Center at the Jesuit Novitiate in Hiroshima, which will be named after former Jesuit Superior General, Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. At present, he is helping to establish a foundation in St. Louis that will support children in environmentally challenged neighborhoods.