A Message of Thanks to René Padilla

Dear Colleagues,

As you should have received just a short time ago, Creighton University is welcoming Kari Costello, DBA, as vice provost for Global Engagement effective Sept. 16. This is an important position that oversees a wide array of academic, service, mission, and development efforts across the globe. I am eager for Dr. Costello to join us.

In welcoming Dr. Costello to this position, I want to acknowledge, with deep gratitude, René Padilla, PhD, whose influential and impactful work has truly set the mold for what this position represents and what it can achieve in the future.

Dr. Padilla joined Creighton in 1994 as an assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions. It was in 2014 when, simultaneously serving as associate dean for academic and student affairs in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Dr. Padilla stepped in as interim director of what was then known as the Office of International Programs to offer his insights and recommendations about how to enhance Creighton’s global reach.

When I arrived at Creighton in 2015, Dr. Padilla had just been named executive director of Global Engagement following his assessment. With global engagement being one of my priorities for Creighton I relied heavily on his counsel and recommendations. I shifted the role from executive director to vice provost in 2017 to reflect the needs of our Creighton Global Initiative, which launched the year prior.

In the decade since Dr. Padilla first began to oversee the University’s global engagement efforts, his leadership has been nothing short of transformative. Just some of the many landmark accomplishments we have seen through our Global Engagement Office include:

• Allocating $4 million-plus of fundraising efforts and other resources to support more than 1,500 students, faculty, and staff through various projects
• Founding the Bridge to Creighton program for early admission of undergraduate international students who may need additional advanced-level English language support
• Developing over 100 international partnerships for collaborative learning, teaching, and research so that over half of our undergraduates can spend time abroad before they graduate
• Doubling the number of service programs and participants with our partners in the Dominican Republic as well as establishing ways to measure our impact, which has shown we have provided more than 10% of the rural population with clean water
• Establishing the Office of Global and Community-Engaged Learning (formerly Office of Academic Service-Learning) and our service-learning course designation process
• Creating the Office of Sustainability Programs and overseeing the development and implementation of the Sustainable Creighton Initiative, which sets aspirational goals for waste and emissions reductions in line with the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform
• Developing and implementing the undergraduate Global Scholars Program and assisting the design, launch, and assessment of the Arrupe Global Scholars and Partnerships Program
• Proposing and overseeing new IT and academic operations of the Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL), namely, forming the 30-credit Pre-STEM program; Creighton now leads JWL as a school of record
• Organizing and administering the Mission Innovation Grants Program, which launched in 2022 and has provided $100,000 to faculty and staff projects that enhance Creighton’s mission

These achievements, and many more, not only reflect Dr. Padilla’s commitment to Creighton’s Jesuit, Catholic mission, but also the emphasis he has put on forming strong and compassionate leaders. I am pleased he will continue this work as he returns to his role on the faculty. He has already shared with me his intent to focus his research on improving policies and practices that support people with disabilities in the workforce as well as improving access by displaced persons to vital resources. 

Please join me in thanking Dr. Padilla today and in the coming weeks as we find opportunities to celebrate his contributions at my Presidential Town Halls in Omaha (Sept. 3) and Phoenix (Sept. 17) as well as at a reception that will be held in his honor in the Fitzgerald Boardroom on Monday, Sept. 9, at 3 p.m. Additional details on this event will be shared through Creighton Today.

I know that I, and many of you as well, will continue to seek out Dr. Padilla’s guidance given his vast array of knowledge and experiences. So too, his continued investment in Creighton’s future on the global stage will be something to which our entire community – in Omaha, Phoenix, and the Dominican Republic – will forever be indebted.

Sincerely,

Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD

President, Creighton University