Kevin F. O'Brien | |
---|---|
29thPresident of Santa Clara University | |
In office July 1, 2019 –May 10, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Michael Engh |
Personal details | |
Born | Montreal,Quebec,Canada | October 8,1966
Alma mater | Georgetown University (B.A.) University of Florida (J.D.) Fordham University (M.A.) Weston Jesuit School of Theology (S.T.L.,M.Div.) |
Occupation | Jesuit,educational leader |
Kevin Fleming O'Brien,SJ (born October 8,1966) is an American Jesuit priest,theologian,educator,and former president of Santa Clara University from 2019 to 2021. [1] He previously served as the dean of SCU's Jesuit School of Theology and as Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Georgetown University. [2]
O'Brien was placed on indefinite leave from SCU on March 18,2021,after unspecified allegations in adult settings were shared with the University Board of Trustees. [3] On May 10,2021,the board accepted his resignation. [4]
O'Brien was born in Montreal,Quebec, [5] and was raised in North Beach,Florida after his family moved there when he was four. In a May 2019 National Catholic Reporter profile of O'Brien,he said his parents taught their children “to give back to the community and that to whom much is given,much is expected.” [6]
He attended Georgetown University,obtaining with a bachelor's degree in government in 1988,the same year he became a naturalized American citizen. O'Brien studied law at the University of Florida,where he served as an editor on the Florida Law Review .
He practiced law for two years until a life-changing conversation with the principal of his high school alma mater,Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach. Asked if he had ever considered teaching,O'Brien initially said no,but later changed his mind,left law,and taught for three years at the school. “God,”he told NCR,"has a way of getting our attention and sending the right people at the right time. The problem is we often don't realize it at the moment.” [7] O'Brien obtained his master's degree in philosophy from Fordham University and a Master of Divinity and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He taught philosophy and ethics at Saint Joseph's University and business law at Le Moyne College. [5]
O'Brien joined the Jesuits in 1996 and was ordained as a priest in 2006. He served as associate pastor at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington,D.C.,and as chaplain for the Jesuit Refugee Service in Los Angeles. He also served overseas,working in Bolivia,Guatemala,India,and Mexico. O'Brien then worked at Georgetown for eight years before being named dean at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in 2016.
O'Brien was selected to be the next president of Santa Clara University in March 2019,and assumed office on July 1,2019. [5] He has outlined plans for his first year,which include increasing access and affordability for qualified SCU students;supporting faculty and staff in the high-cost Bay Area;completing the university's $1 billion capital campaign,and intensifying SCU's outreach to Silicon Valley and the surrounding community. [8]
O'Brien currently serves on the boards of Fordham University and Seattle University,and previously served on the boards at Marquette University and Boston College. He serves each year as a member of the faculty of the Jesuit Leadership Seminar.
O'Brien was interviewed on MSNBC [9] one day after the April 15,2019,fire that broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during Holy Week. At the time,O’Brien also talked about the importance of the holiest week of the Christian calendar.
On January 20,2021,O'Brien celebrated mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington,D.C.,for president-elect Joe Biden and many other officials before the inauguration of Joe Biden.
O'Brien was removed from his Santa Clara post in 2021,following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct in a setting with Jesuit seminarians. [3] [4] An investigation later revealed that these allegations were regarding "conversations,during a series of informal dinners" and that "no inappropriate behavior was found in any settings outside of these dinners." [10]
Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara,California. Established in 1851,Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís which traces its founding to 1777. The campus mirrors the Mission's architectural style and is one of the finest groupings of Mission Revival architecture and other Spanish Colonial Revival styles. The university is classified as a "Doctoral/Professional" university.
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) is a consortium of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and three theological centers in the United States,Canada,and Belize committed to advancing academic excellence by promoting and coordinating collaborative activities,sharing resources,and advocating and representing the work of Jesuit higher education at the national and international levels. It is headquartered in Washington,D.C.,and led by the Association's president,Rev. Michael J. Garanzini,S.J.
John Courtney Murray was an American Jesuit priest and theologian who was especially known for his efforts to reconcile Catholicism and religious pluralism and particularly focused on the relationship between religious freedom and the institutions of a democratically-structured modern state.
Pedro Arrupe Gondra,SJ was a Spanish Basque priest who served as the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. He has been called a second founder of the Society,as he led the Jesuits in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council,especially with regard to faith that does justice and preferential option for the poor.
Paul Leo Locatelli,S.J. was an American Jesuit priest,academic and certified public accountant. Locatelli served as the president of Santa Clara University from 1988 until 2008 before becoming chancellor of Santa Clara in 2008. He also held the post of Secretary of Higher Education for the Society of Jesus in Rome.
The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University is a Jesuit seminary within Santa Clara University and one of the member colleges of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley,California. Prior to its merger with Santa Clara University it was known as the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB).
Leo Jeremiah O'Donovan III is an American Catholic priest,Jesuit,and theologian who served as the president of Georgetown University from 1989 to 2001. Born in New York City,he graduated from Georgetown,and while studying in France,decided to enter the Society of Jesus. He went on to receive advanced degrees from Fordham University and Woodstock College,and received his doctorate in theology from the University of Münster,where he studied under Karl Rahner. Upon returning to the United States,he became a professor at Woodstock College and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology,before becoming the president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and a senior administrator in the Jesuit Maryland Province.
The Reverend Stephen Arena Privett,S.J. is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus. Father Privett was the 27th president of the University of San Francisco. Father Privett currently serves as the 5th President of Verbum Dei High School,a member of the Cristo Rey Network of schools. He was inaugurated as President of Verbum Dei High School on September 18,2018.
Gordon Dunlap Bennett,S.J. is an African-American former Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Mandeville in Jamaica from 2004 to 2006. He was banned from returning to active ministry in two dioceses of the Baltimore Province following a sexual harassment of an adult allegation.
James J. Martin is an American Jesuit Catholic priest,writer,editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America and the founder of Outreach.
The Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM) is a Jesuit school of graduate theology at Boston College. It is an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women,both lay and religious,for scholarship and service,especially within the Catholic Church.
Scott R. Pilarz was an American Jesuit priest and academic. He served two stints as president of the University of Scranton,first from 2003 to 2011 and again from 2018 until 2021. Pilarz was announced as the successor of Kevin Quinn on March 21,2017,serving until his death in 2021. Prior to returning to Scranton,Pilarz served as the president of Marquette University and Georgetown Prep.
Michael Eric Engh is an American Jesuit priest,academic and historian. He was the 28th President of Santa Clara University in Santa Clara,California from January 5,2009 to June 30,2019.
Kevin P. Quinn,S.J.,is an American Jesuit,lawyer and law professor. On July 1,2011,Quinn became President of the University of Scranton,Scranton,Pennsylvania. The announcement was made in the university's Brennan Hall on December 15,2010,that he was to be the 25th President of the University. He succeeded Rev. Scott Pilarz,S.J.,who left Scranton to become the President of Marquette University. Father Quinn's official inauguration took place on September 16,2011,at the University of Scranton's William J. Byron,S.J.,Recreation Complex.
Joseph Burchard Villiger was appointed Santa Clara University's fourth president in 1861 after the presidency of Felix Cicaterri. Burchard Villiger had served as the president of two Jesuit Colleges in the east. During his presidency at Santa Clara University in California United States he had built the Science Building,a Jesuit Residence,and the Facade of the Old Mission Church. He served as president till 1865 which coincided with the Civil War. Later Villiger was rector of the College of the Sacred Heart in Woodstock,Maryland.
Michael Joseph Buckley was an American Jesuit priest and philosophical theologian. He was the Bea Professor of Theology at Santa Clara University. He also served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
Anthony Francis Ciampi was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church and member of the Society of Jesus.
Edward Ignatius Devitt was a Canadian American priest,Jesuit,and historian of the American Catholic Church. Born in Saint John,New Brunswick,he moved with his family to Boston,Massachusetts,at a young age. He studied in public schools in the city before enrolling at the College of the Holy Cross. Devitt spent two years there,and then entered the Society of Jesus in 1859. He studied at the novitiate in Frederick,Maryland,and at the newly opened Woodstock College. He briefly taught at the Washington Seminary during his studies,and after graduating,was a professor for the next thirty years at Holy Cross,Woodstock,and Georgetown University.
Robert James Fulton was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who twice served as the president of Boston College,from 1870 to 1880 and 1888 to 1891. He was influential in the early years of Boston College,as he was in charge of all the school's academic affairs.
Andrew Joseph Christiansen was an American Jesuit priest and author. He was Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Human Development at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service,a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion,Peace,and World Affairs,and the former editor-in-chief of the Jesuit magazine America. His areas of research included nuclear disarmament,nonviolence and just peacemaking,Catholic social teaching,and ecumenical public advocacy.