Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, CM to Address Graduates at Commencement

Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, CM, a longtime leader in Catholic higher education, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters and offer remarks to the graduates of Class of 2026 during Seton Hill University’s undergraduate Commencement ceremony scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2026.

The ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the Salvitti Gymnasium located inside the McKenna Center on Seton Hill’s campus.

“Father Dennis Holtschneider is a longtime leader in Catholic, higher education, and a valued friend and counselor to Seton Hill University and the Sisters of Charity, our founding order, ” said Seton Hill President Mary C. Finger, Ed.D. “Seton Hill University is proud to recognize him with the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, and we look forward to hearing him share inspiring words with our graduates.”

Father Holtschneider is the recent past president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, a membership organization serving the 200 Catholic universities of the US plus universities in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Lebanon and more.

For 13 years, Father Holtschneider was president of DePaul University, the nation's largest Catholic university. He also served as chair and then EVP/COO of Ascension, a Catholic health system with 2,600 care sites in 24 US states.

He is co-founder of the Institute of Global Homeless (IGH) which assists cities on six continents to address street homelessness, and which also serves as the primary advisory to the United Nations on this topic, and is the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Fellow in Catholic Leadership at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Father Holtschneider holds degrees in mathematics, theology, and a doctorate in higher education policy from Harvard University. He has taught higher education policy, strategy and governance at Harvard University's Programs in Professional Education, SUNY Buffalo and St. John's University, N.Y.

Father Holtschneider has presented to the Seton Hill University Board of Trustees and the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill on matters regarding Catholic higher education and has provided valuable insight to both. He offered the Mary Schmidt Lecture during Seton Hill’s Founders’ Day in 2025.