One of Saint John’s University’s most prominent alumni will be a regular presence on campus during the 2025-26 school year.
Denis McDonough ’92 – a former White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama and Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Joe Biden – will serve as scholar-in-residence at the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement.
“It is a challenging time in higher education nationally, and an exciting time at SJU and CSB with (joint) President (Brian) Bruess’s exciting new tenure,” McDonough said. “As usual, it looks to me like Johnnies and Bennies and our (two) institutions are helping the country think through big challenges.
“And given that I have more flexibility in my own calendar now, I wanted to come home and be a part of that.”
McDonough, a Stillwater High School graduate, will make several campus visits during the fall semester, including as a participant in the 19th annual Eugene J. McCarthy Lecture. He will also be part of two events in the Twin Cities metro area.
In the spring semester, McDonough will co-teach a course entitled “Health Care Finance and Policy in the 21st Century” with Dave Schulte ’92, the president of McKesson Ventures, a leading healthcare venture capital firm. In 2023 and ‘24, Schulte was recognized by investment service firm GrowthCap as one of the top 25 investors in the health care field.
He was also a member of Harvard Kennedy School’s Healthcare Policy Leadership Council from 2019-21.
The class will feature one public event focused on the issues being discussed. McDonough, who also served as Chief of Staff at the National Security Council from 2009-10 and as Deputy National Security Advisor from 2010-13, was part of the Obama Administration when the Affordable Care Act was passed.
He then went on to serve as White House Chief of Staff from 2013-17 and as Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2021 until the end of the Biden Administration earlier this year. In the latter role, he oversaw the VA health care program in which well over nine million veterans are enrolled.
“This is the first time our schools have had a cabinet member as part of our faculty, or as a long-term scholar-in-residence,” said McCarthy Center director Dr. Matt Lindstrom, the Edward Henry Professor of Political Science at CSB and SJU. “So it’s very exciting.
“Our students can learn a lot from the experience Denis has had in the policymaking world – both foreign and domestic. But they will also see in him someone who personifies the values he speaks about and that form the cornerstones of our institutions. Treating the people around you the way you want to be treated, lifting up the least among us, listening with the ear of your heart and all the other ideals people think about, not just in terms of Benedictine values. But in terms of human values as well.”
McDonough – a standout football player under legendary Johnnie head coach John Gagliardi – said he is looking forward to having the chance to once again spend an extended amount of time at CSB and SJU, getting to know the next generation of Bennies and Johnnies while also finding out more about Johnnies and Bennies who preceded him.
“I am most looking forward to meeting students and hearing and learning from them,” he said. “It will be excellent to be back home in Minnesota, and in Collegeville and St. Joseph. I’m also planning on taking a close look at another great Johnnie, Cleve Cram ’36 (a longtime station chief for the CIA). It is quite apparent to me that SJU, and his experiences there, contributed to Cleve’s success professionally and, therefore, to the strength of the United States.”
McDonough is also excited about the course he will be co-teaching.
“I got this idea as I talked to another classmate, Paul Finley ’92,” he said. “One of Paul and his wife Maureen’s awesome sons is a Johnnie and went to work in health care upon graduation.
“Health care is a huge part of the national economy, and it – especially med tech, health insurance and health care delivery – is a great strength of Minnesota. Paul spoke to Dave and me about the huge numbers of Johnnies and Bennies going into the health care sector every year, which is a great benefit to the country. So we both are eager to share our experience in health care – Dave, with his great success and extensive experience in health care finance, and me, with my experience in national debates on health care policy – in the hope that it helps those students continue to excel in this important industry upon graduation.”
Overall, McDonough said he is eager to give back to a place that played a key role in his own development.
“Without SJU, and the wisdom and lessons from great leaders and thinkers like Br. Dietrich Reinhart, Ken Jones, Martha Blauvelt and John Gagliardi, I would not have had the experiences I have been blessed to have,” he said.
“SJU and the friends I made there are extremely important to me.”