Scheduled to assume the position on July 1, 2018, Fr. Gerry will have oversight and responsibility for several programs around campus.
¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp President Mark R. Nemec, PhD, has announced Rev. Gerry Blaszczak, S.J., as the University’s Vice President for Mission and Identity, effective July 1 of this year. In this role, Fr. Gerry will have oversight and responsibility for several programs including the Center for Ignatian Spirituality (CIS) and Campus Ministry. He will be working closely to integrate collaborative efforts and support the CIS team as well as Fr. Scalese and the Campus Ministry team.
Fr. Gerry will be returning to a responsibility he held briefly in 2011 before being called to serve as Secretary for the Service of Faith at the Jesuit General Headquarters in Rome. Fr. Gerry entered the Society of Jesus in 1967 and was ordained in 1979. He holds a PhD in New Testament and Early Church History with a secondary field of Islamic Studies from Harvard University. He earned a B.Phil. from Philosophische Hochschule Berchmanskolleg in Pullach, Germany and a B.A., summa cum laude, in classics from Fordham University.
Fr. Gerry has been on the faculty of Le Moyne College, Fordham University and Hekima College, Nairobi, Kenya. He also has served as novice director for the Maryland and New York Provinces of the Jesuits, superior of the Fordham Jesuit community, parochial vicar at St. Raphael’s Church in Raleigh, N.C., and pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, among other posts.
Fr. Gerry will work with Nancy Dallavalle, PhD, who has served as Vice President for Mission and Identity since 2015, to transition into the position. Dr. Dallavalle led Fairfield through the Mission and Identity Self-Study process for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in 2015-2016. The mission priorities identified in that self-study remain in place, thanks to Dr. Dallavalle’s dedication to bringing the community together to evaluate and determine these priorities.
