November 14, 2003

Fr. Byron returns to Loyola as interim president

On Tuesday, October 7, the Board of Trustees at Loyola announced the appointment of the Rev. William J. Byron, S.J., a former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as interim president of the university.

Byron was most recently research professor at Sellinger School of Business, Loyola College in Maryland. From August 2000 until June 2003, he was pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. From 1992 to 2000, he taught "Social Responsibilities of Business" in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, where he held an appointment as Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Ethics and served as rector of the Georgetown Jesuit Community. From 1982-1992, he was president of The Catholic University of America. Prior assignments include service as president of the University of Scranton (1975-82), dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University of New Orleans (1973-75), and various teaching positions in his field of economics and social ethics.

Byron writes a syndicated bi-weekly column "Looking Around" for Catholic News Service. He is the author of Toward Stewardship, Quadrangle Considerations (winner of the Catholic Press Association's 1990 Best Book Award in Education) Take Your Diploma and Run!, Finding Work Without Losing Heart (Adams, 1995), The 365 Days of Christmas, Answers from Within: Spiritual Guidelines for Managing Setbacks in Work and Life (Macmillan, 1998), and Jesuit Saturdays: Sharing the Ignatian Spirit with Lay Colleagues and Friends (Loyola, 2000). He edited The Causes of World Hunger and Take Courage: Psalms of Support and Encouragement.

He is a past trustee of Georgetown University and University of San Francisco. His current directorships include Georgetown University Hospital, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, and The Washington Jesuit Academy. Byron was a founding director and past chairman of Bread for the World, a public member of the Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and an original member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Commission on National and Community Service (now the Corporation for National Service).

He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Maryland, two theology degrees from Woodstock College, and a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in economics from Saint Louis University. He was the 1999 recipient of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for his contributions over the years to the advancement of Catholic higher education. In that same year he received the Council of Independent Colleges' Academic Leadership Award. He is the recipient of 25 honorary degrees.

A native of Pittsburgh, Byron grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School. After service in the army's 508^th Parachute Infantry Regiment in 1945-46, he attended Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia for three years before entering the Jesuit order in 1950. He was ordained a priest in 1961.

In accepting this new responsibility, Byron said, "It has fallen to me to provide leadership here as interim president in service to a wonderful student body, a highly respected faculty and staff, and to the dedicated professionals the university's academic and student life programs, its finances, campus ministry, physical plant, and development strategies.

"I accept this responsibility with enthusiasm for Loyolaits past, present and future. I am eager to learn and ready to serve."