David J. Sargent

David J. Sargent has led a period of tremendous growth throughout Suffolk University since he was named president in 1989.

Under his guidance, Suffolk University has grown from a predominantly commuter-based institution to a major urban university serving a student population from across the country and around the world.

President Sargent has strengthened and expanded the University’s academic programs, introducing Suffolk’s first doctoral degree programs as an extension of its wide array of graduate-level offerings. Suffolk stays on the vanguard of technology by providing state-of-the-art campus facilities and a faculty that makes the most of high-tech tools in the classroom and online. The University also has solidified its longstanding commitment to superior instruction with the founding of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Internationally, Suffolk University now has campuses in Madrid, Spain, and Dakar, Senegal. Closer to home, it has satellite campuses throughout Eastern Massachusetts. The New England School of Art and Design has come under Suffolk’s mantle during President Sargent’s tenure, and partnerships have been formed with a number of organizations.

The Sargent era of institutional growth has seen the addition of three residence halls, a new Law School, and an administrative building that houses the new Mildred Sawyer Library.

Sargent, a Suffolk Law School graduate, returned to the University as a professor of law and served as Law School dean before assuming the presidency.

His legal expertise brought him into the national spotlight during the debate on tort reform of the 1960s and ’70s.

Under President David J. Sargent’s leadership, Suffolk University has begun its second century well prepared to realize its vision of making accessible an education that is rich in theory and experience and that inspires graduates toward personal success and a commitment to social responsibility.