Loyola’s 25th President: Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D.
Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D., has been the 25th president of Loyola University Maryland since Jan. 1, 2022. Under his leadership, Loyola created and launched its strategic plan, Together We Rise: Loyola University Maryland’s Strategic Plan for 2030, which aspires to make Loyola a preeminent university for student success.
A mission-focused leader, President Sawyer is leading efforts to create a nursing program, invest in health and STEM infrastructure, including the renovation and expansion of Donnelly Science Center; welcome diverse, record-breaking incoming classes; and oversee the expansion of programs and initiatives related to sustainability.
President Sawyer, who joined the Loyola community in 1998, served most recently as senior vice president. In that role, he oversaw an advancement team that raised more than $100 million through the Bright Minds, Bold Hearts campaign and secured gifts to build the Fernandez Center of Innovation and Collaborative Learning, a career services team that has re-envisioned the University’s approach to the discernment and pursuit of careers for its students and alumni; and the office of marketing and communications.
Earlier in his career at Loyola, President Sawyer was instrumental in developing and launching the York Road Initiative, where Loyola collaborates with neighbors and partners in the Govans community to bring positive change in the areas of civic capacity, education, and economic and business development.
His previous positions at Loyola included vice president for advancement, vice president for administration, and—his first role—special assistant to the president for government and community relations. He is an affiliate professor in Loyola's Sellinger School of Business and Management.
President Sawyer is a graduate of the Ignatian Colleagues Program, a program run by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities that is designed to educate and form administrators and faculty more deeply in the Jesuit and Catholic tradition of higher education. During the program, President Sawyer completed the Spiritual Exercises and participated in an immersion experience in El Salvador. In the summer of 2016 and again in 2023, he walked in the steps of St. Ignatius on a pilgrimage through Spain and Italy.
A native of Wayne, N.J., President Sawyer earned his bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, a Juris Doctor degree from the Widener University School of Law, and completed the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Institute for Educational Management program. Prior to working at Loyola, President Sawyer was an attorney for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and practiced civil and criminal law in Baltimore City. He is a member of the Maryland State Bar.
President Sawyer currently serves on the boards of the American Council on Education, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Catholic Charities, The Center Club, the Greater Baltimore Committee, Loyola Blakefield, the Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Scholarship Foundation, and the Maryland Independent Colleges and Universities Association.
President Sawyer’s wife, Courtney, is a speech pathologist who earned her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Loyola. They are the parents of three sons.
Learn more about President Sawyer in the Loyola magazine feature story published at the time of his inauguration.
