The Rev. Dennis Holtschneider to Speak at Commencement

The Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M., will deliver the commencement address at St. Norbert College’s 126th commencement ceremony on May 18, 2025. Holtschneider, a native of Detroit, is a Vincentian priest, educator and advocate for Catholic higher education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Niagara University, a master of divinity and a master of theology from Mary Immaculate Seminary, and a doctorate in education administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University.

He has taught and held administrative roles at institutions including St. John’s University, the University at Buffalo and Niagara University. From 2004 to 2017, he served as the 11th president of DePaul University in Chicago, where he expanded the university’s Catholic, Vincentian and urban mission, earning national recognition for community engagement.

Holtschneider later served as chief operations officer at Ascension, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and on various higher education boards and advocacy groups. He currently serves as chancellor of DePaul University and as a Bernardin Fellow of Church Leadership at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

At commencement, Holtschneider will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in recognition of his distinguished service to the church, Catholic higher education and the many communities he has served.

May 8, 2025

Student Commencement Speaker

Macy Edwards ’25 of Kingsford, Mich., a biology major with a Spanish minor, will send her classmates off as the student Commencement speaker. During her three years at St. Norbert College, she worked in Ruth’s Marketplace and tutored for the English as a Second Language program. She was a member of Alpha Xi Delta’s Iota Lambda chapter and was also inducted into Phi Sigma Iota, a foreign language honor society. In January 2024, Edwards participated in a global seminar trip to Italy and Spain, where she practiced her Spanish and studied neuroscience and its history. After graduation, she plans to attend the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, Ill., to pursue a career as a doctor of naturopathy, acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist.