Luttenberger re-elected to SJU Board

Fr. Levesque, President of SJU write…

I am pleased to advise you of several actions taken by the University’s Board of Trustees at its meeting last Wednesday afternoon.

Rev. Gerard Luttenberger, C.M. has been asked by the Vincentian community to assume the position of Director of Formation and Vocations for the Province, the position he held prior to his administrative appointment at St. John’s as Executive Vice President for Mission. For the last several years Father Luttenberger has chaired a committee consisting of representatives from the world-wide Vincentian Community engaged in development of a new Plan for Formation; and he serves as lead author for the plan itself. Father Luttenberger will now assist in the promulgation of this new set of structures on formation and continue to mentor the formation directors here in the Eastern Province. The Board unanimously elected Father Luttenberger to a three-year term on the Board of Trustees; he will also serve on the Mission Committee of the Board.

The Board has elected Rev. Bernard M. Tracey, C.M. as Executive Vice President for Mission. Father Tracey is well known to many members of the St. John’s community. An alumnus, he served in several senior administrative positions, including Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Vice President for University Relations before leaving St. John’s in 2006 to become Superior of St. Vincent’s Seminary in Philadelphia. He was elected to the University’s Board of Trustees in May 2013 and will leave the Board when he assumes his new administrative post, which becomes effective on July 1.

Also at its meeting, the Board elected Sister Julia A. Upton, R.S.M., Ph.D. as Secretary of the University, effective July 1, 2014 when Dorothy E. Habben, Ph.D., who has served as Vice President and Secretary, retires from St. John’s. Currently Special Assistant to the President and Distinguished Professor of Theology, Dr. Upton has been a part of the St. John’s community for many years and served as Provost from 2000-2012.

I thank Father Luttenberger for his exemplary service as Executive Vice President for Mission during my tenure as President. I welcome Father Tracey back to St. John’s and express my appreciation for his generous commitment to advancing the mission work of the University. And I am grateful to Dr. Upton for agreeing to assume the role of Secretary in addition to her other responsibilities.

Please join with me in congratulating Father Luttenberger, Father Tracey, and Sister Julie and in extending prayers and best wishes for success as they assume their new positions.