It falls to the good fortune of many Jesuit schools to have some of their graduates as faculty and administrators. These alumni and alumnae get to enjoy reunions on a daily basis as former teachers become colleagues and sons and daughters of former classmates become students. They become conduits of institutional memory and tradition, bridges from yesterday's yearbooks to today's curriculum changes and tomorrow's graduates, daily witnesses to the evolution of their alma maters.
We have collected here just some of the many current faculty and staff at Jesuit institutions who are alumni and alumnae of their schools. Some are veterans, others are in their rookie years, but it's their pleasure to give back and pass on some of what they've received.
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Thomas Cecil Professor, Mathematics, College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts) '68 |
Tom returned to Holy Cross ten years after graduating from there, having earned a PhD in math from Brown and teaching at Vassar in the meantime. Now in his 26th year of teaching at the college, he's also served two terms as department chair.
"I was delighted to return here as a faculty member; it's a great opportunity to work with talented undergraduates and dedicated colleagues."
Tom's a member of the Clavius Group, a gathering of Jesuit, other religious, and lay Catholic mathematicians that meets each summer to do math research and live as a Catholic community. They've met several times at Holy Cross, Boston College, and Fairfield. "It's had a profound influence on my mathematical research career and my spiritual life over the past 30 years," says Tom.
When Ed graduated from Rockhurst University (then Rockhurst College), only men were admitted as full-time students. In 1998, Fr. Kinerk was appointed president, and the presence of women isn't the only change he's noticed in the student body. "Today's students are more religious than we were," he says. "They're searching." |
Jenny is the person to go to if you need facts and figures on just about anything! As manager of prospect re-search, her duties range from writing profiles on pros-pective donors to reuniting lost class rings with their owners, using initials and graduation year. She ma-jored in political science as an undergrad and received a master's degree in counseling from Xavier. "As an undergrad I loved going to Wednesday weekend warmup to see bands in Down Under. And I loved the people that I worked with in development and the library, people I keep in contact with even today," she says. |
| David Behof Teacher, Math and Computer Science Coach, Cross-Country and Track Loyola Academy (Wilmette, Illinois) '92 |
"When I'm teaching, coaching, leading a service trip, chaperoning a dance, I'm demonstrating the Loyola difference," says Dave. He has a simple way to make a difference in students' lives: being approachable. "I try not to be above students but instead to work with them."
Dave has been a key organizer for Loyola's Athletic Hall of Fame since 2000. Each year, he participates in the school's summer service program. He goes on retreats with students and enjoys talking about Loyola's brand of Jesuit education at the annual open houses and freshman interviews.
| Francisco Jiménez Professor, Modern Languages Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, California) '66 |
"I have fond memories of SCU when I was a student," says Francisco. "I had wonderful teachers, especially Jesuits, who took a personal interest in my intellectual and spiritual development and reinforced values I learned at home: hard work, respect, and faith."
After earning a PhD at Columbia and teaching there for two years, Francisco came back to Santa Clara in '74 to teach Spanish language and literature; he's also chaired the Modern Languages department and served as director of Arts and Humanities and as associate academic vice president.
After Ryan graduated from Regis University in 2002 with degrees in English and philosophy, he returned to his high school, where he is teacher of British literature, assistant director of Community Service and Social Justice, and assistant rugby coach. "I returned to Dallas Jesuit to live out my calling through teaching and continue the ingrained Ignatian ideals of service to others," says Ryan, whose personality conflicts with popular culture: he's an avid reader in a world of instant entertainment; he teaches in a society bound inextricably to materialism; and he serves others in a culture of self-satisfaction. |
Tom, who earned a BS in business and an MBA, remembers college as a time of self-discovery and hopes young college-bound adults will have the same experience. After thirteen years working for Kroger, he returned to Wheeling as director of admissions to spend his days telling prospective students how he and his friends learned about life thanks to the Jesuit mentors they had there, including Frs. Jim O'Brien and Walter Buckius, SJ. He was recently named assistant to the vice president of advancement and director of alumni. "Coming back to Wheeling Jesuit, to a place I love, was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," he says. |
Frank was chosen principal of Canisius High in February 2003 by a committee that called him "a standard-bearer of academic excellence, which characterizes a Jesuit school." The first lay president at this school, which opened its doors in 1870, he's a classroom veteran, having taught for 35 years after earning a BA in English and an MA in English education from Canisius College. |
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| Stan Jaskolski Dean, College of Engineering Marquette University (Milwaukee) '62, '67 |
Stan, a former Clinton appointee to the National Science Board, retired two years ago as chief technology officer of Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. In August he returned to Marquette, where he had earned a bachelor's, master's, and a doctorate and for fifteen years taught engineering as well as chairing the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
"Marquette provided me the rich and broad foundation for the successes I've been blessed with in life, and I'm very excited about this opportunity to give back," he says.
| Doug Pearson Coach, Varsity Football St. John's Jesuit High (Toledo) '82 |
After teaching and working in the Toledo public school system for over ten years with at-risk youth, Doug returned to his alma mater to direct the school's minority program and coach football.
"I wanted to give back to the young men here some of the formational aspects St. John's gave to me. Discipline and my spiritual foundation are very important to me, I wanted to pass that on -- as the Jesuits did. That, plus win a city football championship for my alma mater."
| James Fitzpatrick Assistant Vice President, Student Services Fairfield University (Fairfield, Connecticut) '70 |
Jim says that the declining numbers of Jesuits have forced him and other lay people at Fairfield University "to think about and embrace the Jesuit mission as something we, too, have responsibility for."
For Jim (pictured here with Gabrielle Roazzi, '04), that means helping organize meals at a homeless shelter, serving as a mentor for the Freshman Year Experience program, teaching CCD at a parish, doing some volunteer coaching, and serving on the board of a Boys & Girls Club. For many years he was the driving force that welcomed Connecticut Summer Special Olympics to Fairfield University.
| Jack Emmett Teacher, Latin, Greek, and Russian St. Xavier High (Cincinnati) '53 |
There's no question that Jack is devoted to his alma mater, having taught there since '62. He's known as "Latin Jack" but teaches Greek and Russian as well.
"It's been my good fortune to be associated with Jesuit education through four years of high school at St. Xavier High, six years of undergraduate and graduate work at Xavier University, and 42 years of teaching at St. Xavier. For more than 50 years I've experienced a serious devotion to developing young people with a commitment to their God and to their neighbor."
| Lizette Ortega Teacher, History and Dance St. Ignatius College Prep (San Francisco) '94 |
When Harvard-educated Lizette ended up with a double major in education and dance, she imagined staying on the East Coast and working at inner-city public schools. However, she decided that the best way she could make this a better world was to come home and teach at her alma mater.
"I know my students are going to change the world for the better because they're always analyzing and questioning," she says. This year Lizette is working with twelve girls who will dance to the poetry of Maya Angelou, June Jordan, and others dealing with themes of violence against women.
| Maria Bertagnolli Associate Professor, Biology Gonzaga University (Spokane) '87 |
Maria (better known as "Mia") has been teaching chemistry and biochemistry at Gonzaga since '93, receiving a five-year Clare Booth Luce professorship in '95. She's the person to talk to if you want to learn about "Talin distribution and phosphorylation in thrombin-activated platelets," the title of one of her many articles.
After earning a BS in biology from Gonzaga and a PhD in the subject from the University of Utah, she headed back to Gonzaga.
| Mike Hughes Teacher, Religion Jesuit High (Portland, Oregon) '79 |
Though Mike's only 42, he's spent half his life at Jesuit High. As a student, his passions included community service, retreats, and track and field. Now he coaches track and field (he held the school record in the triple jump until he coached one of his students to beat it) and started the school's photography program as well as the Christian Service Program, all in addition to teaching.
"I have the chance to be involved in giving our students a glimpse of the kingdom of God; why would I go anywhere else?" he says.