As I have mentioned in this space before, I like football. A lot.

The best football teams are complete. They have strong offenses and defenses, and special teams. They perform the fundamentals very well and can be flashy when they need to. They have speed and strength, are well-coached, can compete in any environment against anyone. And, they are good year after year, having honed a strong foundation into an artistic machine.

The very best colleges and universities are similarly “complete.” They have great teaching traditions and excellent academic research; they nurture and empower their undergraduates and offer exciting and market-relevant graduate programs. They utilize their locations to the fullest. They seek to be judged as much by the students they enroll as the ones they graduate. They stay true to their missions and cultivate in their community a sense of grand purpose. They have GREAT faculty. Such places are magical, and rare.

Loyola is one of them.

From time to time, take a look at our faculty news web page. This is a great resource for you to see what faculty members are up to–what awards they are winning, what grants they are garnering, and what papers they are presenting. In addition to their scholarship, Loyola faculty are among the most passionate I have ever seen. They thrive in their advising and mentoring roles with their students–both graduate and undergraduate. Not a day goes by that I do not hear about some great lecture or moment of guidance and inspiration offered by the great men and women who have made it part of their life’s work to be at Loyola.

In the weeks and months to come I will share some of their stories with you. Know that Loyola offers all the benefits of a large research university with the personal support and connectedness of a tiny liberal arts college. And it is our faculty, with their robust commitment to both scholarship and students, that make this so.