St. Ambrose University President Amy Novak relates a recent encounter with a group of football players as she walked through the Davenport campus.
“I said, ‘Guys, what’s your plan for the spring? What are you doing post-graduation? If you don’t have a plan yet, then let’s have lunch, and let’s talk about what your next steps need to look like’,” she recalled.
While the job of a university president has many constituencies, Ms. Novak, 53, inevitably turns the conversation back to students. “Our students inform me and shape me, which gets shared with our alumni, who share their insights back to our board of trustees, who shape our decision-making that impacts our community,” she said.
That cycle of engagement, she believes, “is the power of higher education.”
Named as the 14th president of St. Ambrose in 2021, Ms. Novak moved quickly to make her mark at the university, launching a new strategic plan, Agile Ambrose, to prepare to meet the lifetime needs of learners. Innovation Summits have brought business and community leaders together to discuss how the university can best prepare students to meet workforce needs.
She brought extensive experience to St. Ambrose, after serving in a number of top leadership roles at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, including as its first female president from 2013-2021. All of this despite the fact she did not go back to get her doctorate, from Creighton University, until she was 40.
“In higher education, one of our deficits has been that for a very long time, we have relied on sort of the same model, the same approach, and today, we know students learn differently,” she told the QCBJ.
She has expanded the regional footprint of the university as it prepares to combine with Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and become the parent institution.
Laura Ekizian, a St. Ambrose Board of Trustees member, cited the “bold and innovative action for both universities” in nominating Ms. Novak for the Woman of Influence honor.
“Dr. Novak is the vision behind this strategy,” wrote Ms. Ekizian, also a 2024 QCBJ Woman of Influence. “Her ability to focus on solving big issues and communicating a shared purpose has allowed her to have significant influence not only on the SAU campus but in our region as well.”
Ms. Novak receives ongoing feedback from her children – Peter, 30; Iya, 28; Luke, 26; Mark, 25; Seemela, 23; Marianna, 22; Elijah, 19; and Zechariah, 17.
“I believe my eight children have informed how I lead every day,” she said.
She and her husband, Ken, have hosted hundreds of students representing numerous campus organizations for weekend dinners at their Bettendorf home.
“It’s really Ken’s and my attempt to just engage people in community and to express our deep commitment to helping to discover in each of them the beauty of their own personality,” she said.
She points to the strong influences of the women in her family – her mother, Mary Puetz; and grandmothers, Josephine Puetz and Luella Andert, describing them all as “courageous.” She also gives credit to Isabelle Cherny, her doctoral dissertation advisor.
A story about Ms. Novak would not be complete without a nod to her deep Catholic faith and commitment to social justice issues.
As she acknowledged the uncertainties faced by international students today, Ms. Novak speaks of a renewed commitment “to being a place where our Catholic understanding and our Catholic mission require us to embrace the human dignity of every person and to walk in solidarity with them in moments of difficulty or moments where they might feel diminished by the larger community.”
Just steps outside her office in Ambrose Hall is a grotto dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has been a place of prayer and meditation for countless Ambrosians and is a favorite destination for Ms. Novak.
“It is a place of solace for me and allows me to reset,” she said.
WORDS OF WISDOM
“One of my really strong messages to women is to walk through that unknown door and have the courage to be yourself in that process.”
Bio
Childhood hometown: Mitchell, South Dakota
Residence: Bettendorf
Education: Bachelor of Arts in history, University of Notre Dame; Master of Science in social and applied economics, Wright State University; and Doctor of Education in interdisciplinary leadership, Creighton University.
Family: Husband Ken; eight children, Peter, 30; Iya, 28; Luke, 26; Mark, 25; Seemela, 23; Marianna, 22; Elijah, 19; and Zechariah, 17.
