2
SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY INAUGURATION
October 22, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
Santa Clara University Welcomes Kevin O’Brien, S.J., as 29 th President
President O’Brien with SCU basketball
player Josip Vrankic from Toronto.
Sa nta Cla ra Un iversit y’s 29t h
P r e s i d e n t K e v i n O ’ B r i e n , S .J.,
will draw upon life experiences
as a lawyer, teacher, t heologian,
administrator, leader, and priest to
lead the 168-year-old institution into
a new phase of growth and impact.
O’Brien was born in Montreal,
Quebec, to an Irish-Catholic family
of five, which moved to southern
Florida when he was four. His late
fat her, La r r y, spent 35 yea rs a s
personal manager to the legendary
gol fer Jac k Nic k lau s – for whom
O’Brien’s older brother Andrew still
works. His late mother Elizabeth
worked in the home. His older sister
Cathy is a special-education teacher
in Denver.
After college and law school, he
worked as a lawyer, thinking he’d
go into politics. But he found more
mea n i ng i n c ou n s el i ng c l ie nt s.
He decided to teach, then to join
t h e S o c ie t y of Je s u s, ad m i r i ng
t heir down-to-eart h spirit ualit y;
excellence in teaching and preaching;
and commitment to justice. He joined
in 1996 and was ordained a priest 10
years later.
Dur i ng for mat ion, he worked
in a leprosy hospital in India and
other international locales, and in
inner-city parishes in Syracuse and
Baltimore. He served with the Jesuit
Ref ugee Ser v ice i n Los A ngeles
detention centers and elsewhere.
After ordination and two years
as a pastor at Holy Trinity Catholic
Church in Washington D.C., he joined
Georgetow n Un iversit y to teac h
and lead, publishing The Ignatian
Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual
Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life,
which presents for modern day life
the 500-year-old tradition of Ignatian
spirituality. He became dean of SCU’s
Jesuit School of Theology in 2016.
He brings deep k nowledge of
Jesuit education, having served on
the boards of four Jesuit universities–
F o r d h a m U n i v e r s i t y, S e a t t l e
University, Marquette University, and
Boston College–and on the faculty of
the Jesuit Leadership Seminar.
His prior it ies at SCU i nc lude
improving access to higher education
and ensuring the campus welcomes
a variety of voices and people. The
University is in the middle of a $1
billion comprehensive campaig n
s e e k i ng to e n s u r e ac c e s sibi l it y
through scholarships and
programs, maintain its Jesuit heart,
and emphasize interdisciplinar y
education.
“The measure that will matter
most–at least for a Jesuit university–
is the lives we have impacted and
the change we have effected,” said
O’Brien as h is appoint ment was
announced.
Kevin O’Brien
Education: B.A., Georgetown;
M.A., Fordham; J.D., University of
Florida; M.Div., S.T.L, Weston Jesuit
School of Theology
Hometown: North Beach, Florida
Family: Late Father, Larry;
Late Mother, Elizabeth;
Sister Cathy; Brother Andrew
Previous Professional Roles:
Lawyer; Teacher; Pastor; Georgetown
U. VP of Mission & Ministry; Dean of
SCU Jesuit School of Theology
International Pastoral Travels:
India; Bolivia; Mexico; Guatemala