Dec 11, 2008 / 16:30 pm
The University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, has elected as its new president a priest who is a high school religion teacher and chaplain. It is believed the 33-year-old Father James Patrick Shea will become the youngest university president in the United States.
Martin White, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Sister Nancy Miller, Board President and Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, introduced Father Shea as the new president in a December 5 press conference.
"I'm deeply honored and humbled to have been chosen to serve as the sixth president of the University of Mary," said Father Shea, according to a press release. "It's a surprising choice to many, I know, including me. But I am grateful to the Board of Trustees and the Sisters for their confidence in me, and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie in store."
Father Shea will succeed Sister Thomas Welder as university president on July 1, 2009.