New Vice President for Mission and Ministry at SLU

Father Paul Stark SJ has been appointed as Vice President for Mission and Ministry for Saint Louis University, effective March 1. Stark entered the Society of Jesus in 1977, and brings extensive experience as an educator, administrator and pastor that will be invaluable in his new role. He taught at St. Louis U. High School as a Jesuit scholastic from 1980-82 and then returned there after ordination. He also taught at Rockhurst High and Regis Jesuit High.

Stark's new appointment is sort of a homecoming for him. His first job at SLU was in Campus Ministry, overseeing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Program and participating in the Bridges Program, among other responsibilities.

His new job focuses on an essential element of university life, preserving its Catholic, Jesuit identity, character, history and heritage. In 1993 Stark moved from secondary education to university ministry with a one-year stint in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University followed by six years at Saint Louis University. He served as Director of Mission and Identity at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. Since 2008 Stark has been back in St. Louis, serving as Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving.

Stark replaces Father Frank Reale, former Missouri Province provincial, who has been wearing two very different hats: Vice President for Mission and Ministry, and Rector and Vice President of the university’s Madrid Campus.

“It is no easy task to oversee two different areas on two different continents, and I want to thank him for his dedication to our university,” said Father Larry Biondi, SLU’s president. I am also grateful that Father Reale will continue his important work in leading our campus in Spain.”

  Tweet