New President-Rector

I just received word that Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB, has been named the next President-Rector of Saint Meinrad School of Theology, where I attended seminary. He succeeds Fr. Mark O'Keefe, OSB, who has been President-Rector since 1996 and recently announced that he would be stepping down from the post at the end of this academic year. Fr. Denis will begin his duties on June 1, 2008. Archabbot Justin DuVall, OSB, made the appointment after a recommendation from the school's Board of Trustees.

For most of my time at Saint Meinrad, Fr. Denis was in Belgium studying at the Catholic University of Louvain. While I never had the opportunity to learn from him in the classroom, I have heard that he is an excellent professor. I know he is an excellent scholar - at the conclusion of his studies in Belgium, he received not one, but two doctorate degrees! He is also a faithful priest and monk and brings a great spirituality to the school. I have known Fr. Denis through the years, and the experience that most stands out in my mind is the time he spent with a group of us seminarians while we were in Rome in January 2003. Fr. Denis was also in Rome at the time with a group of seminarians from Belgium, and he spent a couple days as our tour guide (he was supposed to be with us as a tour guide for two weeks, but other travels and opportunities limited that to two days). He gave a very energetic and exciting tour of Rome - you might call him a living travel book - and gave us a good introduction to the city.

One of the great assets Fr. Denis will bring to his role as President-Rector is that he has experience in parish ministry as well as seminary education. He was ordained a priest in 1993 for the Diocese of Memphis and spent his first four years as a priest in diocesan ministry, before entering the monastery at Saint Meinrad in 1997. Since then, he has ministered in a variety of settings in school administration, in addition to teaching systematic theology. Blessings to Fr. Denis as he prepares to take on this new leadership position!