News
Mary Schufreider Named
Provincial Assistant
Mary Schufreider, RN, BSN, coordinates the team of nurses responsible for Midwest Jesuits’ care.
The Midwest Province’s new provincial assistant for healthcare is Mary Schufreider, RN, BSN.
“Mary is an excellent nurse, offered compassionate care to the Jesuits, and was a wonderful colleague,” says Jane Glynn-Nass, RN, BSN, the province’s former provincial assistant for healthcare. “She will bring that with her as she steps into her new role.”
A graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Schufreider was hired by the province in 2011 as the Chicago area health care coordinator. After retiring from that role in 2021, she stayed on to assist with the province’s electronic medical records database. She also serves as the liaison between the healthcare staff of the United States provinces and the database specialist for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. She will continue those duties in addition to her administrative responsibilities as provincial assistant.
“Though I retired from my position as healthcare coordinator in 2021, in some ways I never left,” Schufreider says. “I have maintained many Jesuit friendships formed over my 10 years working with the men through visits to Colombiere and St. Camillus, in correspondence and even on the golf course. The opportunity to work as the provincial assistant for healthcare reignited in me the spirit to serve and care for the Midwest Jesuits.”
Milwaukee and Twin Cities Gift Officer Tom Drexler Retiring
Tom Drexler served the Society of Jesus in many roles over the course of his impactful career.
Tom Drexler, a Midwest Jesuits gift officer covering Milwaukee and the Twin Cities, will retire at the end of July 2026.
“Working with the Jesuits has been both professionally and spiritually fulfilling,” says Drexler, a graduate of Marquette University High School in Milwaukee and Creighton University in Omaha. “I have deep affection for the Society of Jesus.
He has shown that affection in his work. For more than five years, he has served as a gift officer in the Midwest Province’s advancement department. He also served as executive director of the Ignatian Spirituality Project for 13 years. Before that, he worked at Creighton’s Institute for Latin American Concern in the Dominican Republic and spent two years with Jesuit Volunteer Corps International.
At one time, he discerned a vocation with the Jesuits, and although he did not complete Jesuit formation, he never left the service of the Society of Jesus.
“Many words come to mind when thinking about Tom and all he has done,” says Quentin Maguire, the Midwest Province’s provincial assistant for advancement and communications. “Mostly, I will miss his leadership, his kindness and his partnership in the mission.”
The search for Drexler’s replacement is underway.
Provincial Assistant John Sealey to Retire This Summer
John Sealey offered program support focusing on international Jesuit ministries, networks and missioning.
John Sealey, the Midwest Province provincial assistant for international ministries, has retired after a lifetime of service to the Society of Jesus.
“John has been a great friend and mentor,” says James Erler, the Midwest Province’s provincial assistant for justice, ecology and reconciliation. “He exemplifies cura personalis for Jesuits, our employees and the people we serve.”
Sealey joined the former Wisconsin Province as provincial assistant in 2001. Ten years later, he began work for Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Provinces, and in 2017, he stepped into his current role.
Prior to working for the provinces, Sealey was the program director of Jesuit Volunteer Corps International (1995-2001) and a theology teacher at three Jesuit high schools: Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.; Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colo.; and St. John’s College in Belize City, Belize.
“The Jesuit mission and lived example has shaped my understanding of life and relationship with God,” says Sealey, an alumnus of Creighton Preparatory School, Creighton University and the University of San Francisco. “I’ve been blessed to encounter so many Jesuits and colleagues who authentically live our efforts to build bridges and join with others in the struggle for justice and solidarity with the least, which our faith calls for.”
Jesuit Schools Network of North America Names New Executive Director
The Jesuit Schools Network of North America (JSN) has named Jennifer LaMaster as its new executive director. She is the first woman to hold the position.
“I’m humbled and thrilled to be entrusted with this ministry,” LaMaster says. “I look forward to the work ahead together in faith, justice and service.”
LaMaster brings more than two decades of Jesuit education leadership experience to the role, most recently as the Midwest Province’s provincial assistant for presecondary and secondary education.
As executive director of JSN, she will lead JSN’s mission, strategy and operations, supporting 90 Jesuit schools across Canada and the United States, as well as in Belize and Micronesia. The JSN executive director also serves as secretary for presecondary and secondary education for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, led by Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ.
“I have known Jen for many years,” Fr. Paulson says. “She brings many gifts to our shared mission—deep faith, love for the Church, strong relational skills, extensive experience in Jesuit education and a clear vision for strengthening the service of JSN.”
Previously, LaMaster held leadership positions at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, including assistant principal and director of faculty development
Jennifer LaMaster brings more than 20 years of Jesuit education experience to her new role.
Six New Leaders at Midwest Jesuit High Schools
Fr. Daniel Dixon, SJ
Denise Bertin-Epp
Fr. Daniel J. Kennedy, SJ
Jackie Schulte
Julio Paz
Steve Tortorello
Six Midwest Jesuit high schools will welcome new leaders this fall.
Father Daniel Dixon, SJ, a 2006 graduate of University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (UDJ), will become the 31st president of his alma mater, and the third alumnus to lead the school in its nearly 150-year history.
Also in Detroit, Denise Bertin-Epp, who was featured in our Spring issue, takes over as president of Loyola High School.
In Milwaukee, Father Daniel J. Kennedy, SJ, will become the 12th president of Marquette University High School (MUHS). He comes to MUHS after serving as executive vice president and special assistant to the president at UDJ.
Jackie Schulte will step in as permanent head of school (principal) at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha. A former Creighton Prep teacher and dean of faculty formation, she has served as Prep’s interim head of school since last summer.
At Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, Julio Paz will assume the presidency, continuing his distinguished career in nonprofit leadership, philanthropy and community impact, most recently as chief external affairs officer at Chicago Commons.
Also in the Chicago area, Steve Tortorello will take over as principal at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., bringing to the position nearly two decades of experience in Catholic education and school leadership.
Dr. Michelle C. Murray is the first lay president to lead the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Welcomes New President
In June, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) welcomed its new president, Dr. Michelle C. Murray, the first layperson to lead the organization.
AJCU represents 27 Jesuit institutions in the United States and one in Belize, with three associate members in Canada. Through advocacy, formation programs and inter-institutional collaborations, AJCU supports its members in their shared work to advance the mission of Jesuit higher education.
Murray will work closely with other higher education and Jesuit organizations based in Washington, D.C., including the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
“The opportunity to lead AJCU calls to both my heart and my professional purpose,” says Murray, a nationally recognized educator, speaker and writer. “For the past thirty years, I have been guided by a deep belief in the power of Jesuit, Catholic higher education to transform lives and serve the common good. Its enduring focus on holistic student learning and development, and its commitment to creating just societies, has shaped my leadership style and my vocation as an educator.”
Over three decades, Murray served at Loyola University Maryland, Seattle University and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., where most recently she held the position of senior vice president for student development and mission.
Most Rev. James R. Golka served as bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs (Colo.) before Pope Leo XIV appointed him archbishop of Denver.
Creighton University Alumnus Named Archbishop of Denver
The Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus congratulates Most Rev. James R. Golka, an alumnus of Creighton University (CU) in Omaha, and the former bishop of Colorado Springs (Colo.), on his appointment to archbishop of Denver.
Archbishop Golka was born in Grand Island, Neb., in 1966, and graduated in 1989 from CU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theology and philosophy. After college, he spent a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, home to Holy Rosary Mission, an apostolate of the Midwest Province.
He was ordained to the Diocese of Grand Island in 1994 and named bishop of Colorado Springs by Pope Francis in 2021. Earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV missioned him to become Denver’s sixth archbishop, succeeding the retired Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila. Denver is Colorado’s largest archdiocese with more than 600,000 Catholics, 148 parishes and 31 Catholic schools.
IN THIS ISSUE
ON THE COVER
The 2026 ordinands at Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee.
Photo: Steve Donisch