Katia Passerini, Ph.D., joined Gonzaga University as its 27th president on July 15, 2025, becoming the second layperson to serve in the role. President Passerini leads the University in educating undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students for lives of leadership and service to the common good. Established in 1887, Gonzaga is a nationally ranked Catholic, Jesuit liberal arts institution intentional in developing the whole person. President Passerini also holds a professor appointment in the School of Business Administration.
Leadership Experience
Passerini served as Seton Hall University provost and executive vice president from 2020 to 2025, and spent a year as interim president. As provost, Passerini led academic affairs areas, including strategic, operational, and resource planning for Seton Hall’s schools and colleges. She also was responsible for academic resources management, faculty hiring, development, and professional success; academic programs quality; research and innovation activities; academic policies and processes; and local, national and international partnership development.
Prior to Seton Hall, Passerini served as a distinguished chair and dean at St. John's University, where she also held a professor appointment in the Division of Computer Science, Mathematics and Science. At the New Jersey Institute of Technology, she was professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) and dean of NJIT’s Honors College, teaching courses in MIS, knowledge management, project management, and IT strategy. She received numerous awards for teaching excellence and was designated a Master Teacher.
Academic Research and Professional Experience
With research interests in macro-economic drivers of knowledge management, wireless broadband applications and industry trends; and computer-assisted learning and education, Passerini has published extensively, particularly in the areas of computer-mediated learning, IT productivity, and knowledge management. She was nominated five times for best paper awards at regional and national conferences. She serves on editorial boards of various information systems (IS) and entrepreneurship journals and acted as program and track chair in a number of IS conferences.
Passerini co-authored a 2012 book, “Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise,” which discusses how small and medium-sized businesses can leverage today's mobile technology to thrive in highly competitive global environments. And in 2022, she co-edited “The Future of Business Schools: Purpose, Action, and Impact.”
Her other professional experiences include multi-industry projects at Booz Allen Hamilton (now part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and the World Bank where she focused on information technology projects in Europe, North America, and the South Pacific. She is a certified project manager (PMP) with practice in the automotive and telecommunications industries and higher education.
Education
Passerini has undergraduate degrees in political science (LUISS University, Italy) and economics (University of Rome II-Tor Vergata, Italy). She earned an M.B.A. and Ph.D. from The George Washington University, and a Certificate in Business Project Management from New York University. She was a Fulbright Student Scholar and Fulbright Administrator Scholar, an Italian National Research Council Fellow (CNR), and received several funded scholarships awards, fellowships and grants.
Personal Life
President Passerini is a mother of three sons — Luis, Michelangelo and Diego — and her spouse Arturo Pagan works in human resources and international development at the United Nations. She grew up in Rome, Italy, where education was always important in her family — both her parents started their careers as elementary school teachers.