Dean Tuchman's Message
A message from founding dean Nancy C. Tuchman, PhD
Loyola University Chicago’s newest school, the School of Environmental Sustainability (SES), demonstrates the University’s commitment to caring for our shared home and the stability of our youth’s future. SES is the University’s thirteenth school—and the first school of environmental sustainability at any Jesuit university.
The school builds on more than two decades of investments in education, research, and action addressing the planetary ecological crisis. In 2002, Loyola started a campus sustainability initiative that has cut our environmental footprint in half. In 2013, the University established the Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES), marking another substantial investment in this area.
Promoting the IES to school status in 2020 is another major accomplishment of this overarching commitment to the environment. The SES has since doubled its full-time faculty and staff and grown its student body to over 500.
As the School of Environmental Sustainability grows, we continue to advance knowledge and action on biodiversity, environmental policy and economics, environmental health, food systems, and climate and energy. We recognize that the most vulnerable members of society suffer the most from environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change, and we strive to create just and equitable strategies for addressing these problems.
At Loyola, our commitment to the environment extends to the University as a whole. More than 57 percent of incoming first-year students say that the University’s focus on sustainability was one of the reasons they chose Loyola University Chicago.
We consistently rank in the top 10 percent of green campuses nationwide and have been named to the Princeton Review’s Green College Honor Roll. Loyola will become a carbon-neutral university by January 2025 through a power-purchase agreement with a solar company to receive 100 percent of our electricity from renewable, clean-energy sources. Loyola is on track to decarbonize our campuses with our new Carbon Action Plan.
At SES, we are not just teaching our students about environmental science or policy—we are training the next generation of environmental leaders. We understand that sustainability issues are not just scientific problems but also human problems requiring an all-in approach. Our multidisciplinary curriculum and faculty equip students with the knowledge they need to take on these complex challenges—preparing them to develop innovative solutions that address critical threats to the well-being of people and ecosystems worldwide.
With gratitude and enthusiasm,
Nancy C. Tuchman, PhD
Founding Dean and Professor, School of Environmental Sustainability
A message from founding dean Nancy C. Tuchman, PhD
Loyola University Chicago’s newest school, the School of Environmental Sustainability (SES), demonstrates the University’s commitment to caring for our shared home and the stability of our youth’s future. SES is the University’s thirteenth school—and the first school of environmental sustainability at any Jesuit university.
The school builds on more than two decades of investments in education, research, and action addressing the planetary ecological crisis. In 2002, Loyola started a campus sustainability initiative that has cut our environmental footprint in half. In 2013, the University established the Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES), marking another substantial investment in this area.
Promoting the IES to school status in 2020 is another major accomplishment of this overarching commitment to the environment. The SES has since doubled its full-time faculty and staff and grown its student body to over 500.
As the School of Environmental Sustainability grows, we continue to advance knowledge and action on biodiversity, environmental policy and economics, environmental health, food systems, and climate and energy. We recognize that the most vulnerable members of society suffer the most from environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change, and we strive to create just and equitable strategies for addressing these problems.
At Loyola, our commitment to the environment extends to the University as a whole. More than 57 percent of incoming first-year students say that the University’s focus on sustainability was one of the reasons they chose Loyola University Chicago.
We consistently rank in the top 10 percent of green campuses nationwide and have been named to the Princeton Review’s Green College Honor Roll. Loyola will become a carbon-neutral university by January 2025 through a power-purchase agreement with a solar company to receive 100 percent of our electricity from renewable, clean-energy sources. Loyola is on track to decarbonize our campuses with our new Carbon Action Plan.
At SES, we are not just teaching our students about environmental science or policy—we are training the next generation of environmental leaders. We understand that sustainability issues are not just scientific problems but also human problems requiring an all-in approach. Our multidisciplinary curriculum and faculty equip students with the knowledge they need to take on these complex challenges—preparing them to develop innovative solutions that address critical threats to the well-being of people and ecosystems worldwide.
With gratitude and enthusiasm,
Nancy C. Tuchman, PhD
Founding Dean and Professor, School of Environmental Sustainability