Holy Cross Names Vice President for Mission

Rev. Paul F. Harman, S.J., has been named to the new position of Vice President for Mission at the College of the Holy Cross, effective immediately.  Fr. Harman has served since January 2009 as a special assistant to Holy Cross President Michael C. McFarland, S.J., who made the announcement.

“For the past two and one-half years, Paul Harman has made tremendous advances in developing our mission and identity programs, as well as serving as a wise and perceptive advisor,” said Fr. McFarland.  “He has brought his deep knowledge of Holy Cross and extensive experience with higher education and other Jesuit apostolates to his work.  Now, in his new position as vice president, he will have broad responsibilities related to mission, particularly on issues of faith and justice.”

Fr. Harman chairs the College’s campus-wide Mission and Identity Committee and oversees its many initiatives and programs for students, faculty, and staff.   In his new position, he will continue and enhance that work with the Board of Trustees, the President’s Office, and other administrators.  He will also work especially closely with the Office of the College Chaplains.

Commenting on his new appointment at Holy Cross, Fr. Harman said:  “I have greatly enjoyed working with the faculty, staff, students and administrators at Holy Cross and look forward to strengthening the mission of the College, drawing from the long and rich traditions of the Church and the Society of Jesus.”

Fr. Harman received both his undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in philosophy from Boston College.  He entered the Society of Jesus in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1968.  He taught at Baghdad College in Iraq, where he also studied Arabic, before returning to the United States to study at the Weston School of Theology, where he received his Licentiate of Sacred Theology.

Fr. Harman first worked at Holy Cross in 1970 as a visiting lecturer in theology while completing his doctorate in education at Columbia University.  The following year he was appointed associate academic dean; and in 1975 he became executive vice president, serving in that capacity until 1984.  He left Holy Cross to become Provincial Assistant for Formation for the New England Province of the Jesuits and later Secretary for Formation for the Jesuits in the United States.  Just before returning to Holy Cross, he served as rector of the Jesuit Community at Boston College.  He has also served on numerous boards of trustees, including Boston College, Georgetown, Loyola University of Chicago and Holy Cross, where he was a trustee from 1986 – 95.