The University announced last Thursday that Rev. Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., was named the interim dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, effective June 1. Kalscheur, a senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, will assume the role currently filled by David Quigley, who was named provost and dean of faculties in March.
“I am tremendously grateful to be given the opportunity to serve the University in this role,” said Kalscheur to the Office of News and Public Affairs (ONPA) last week. “Teaching and research in the liberal arts and sciences are at the heart of the University’s Jesuit, Catholic mission, and I look forward to the privilege of working with the outstanding faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences in continuing to advance our commitment to academic excellence, intellectual rigor, and the preparation of our students for full and meaningful lives oriented toward service of the common good.”
Kalscheur, who will lead both the graduate and undergraduate A&S schools until a permanent replacement is found, has been on the faculty of the Boston College Law School since 2003, where he has taught courses on law and religion, constitutional law, and Catholic social thought. In 2012 he was named the senior associate dean for strategic planning and faculty development in A&S, and has since worked on core curriculum renewal and in assisting Quigley with hiring and promoting.
“I’ve long admired Greg Kalscheur’s exceptional commitment to teaching and to his students, and his inspiring seriousness of purpose, first at the Law School and for the last few years in Gasson Hall,” said Quigley in ONPA’s press release. “I’ve come to rely on his wise counsel on nearly all matters in Arts and Sciences, and he’s provided important leadership on the Core Foundations Task Force as well as our mentoring programs across the College.”
Before entering the Jesuit order in 1992, Kalscheur received his B.A. in 1985 from Georgetown University, and his J.D. in 1988 from the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, he served on the editorial board of the Michigan Law Review, and after graduating, he worked as a litigator at Hogan & Hartson, a major Washington, D.C.-based law firm.
Kalscheur began his career in academia as an adjunct professor of political science and assistant to the director of the Center for Values and Service at Loyola College in Maryland. Between 2001 and 2002, he served as an assistant pastor at St. Raphael the Archangel Church in Raleigh, N.C. He holds a master’s of divinity from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.
In 2006, he was recognized by the BC Law Student Association as an outstanding member of the faculty with the Emil Slizewski Faculty Excellence Award.
He serves on the board of directors of the BC School of Theology and Ministry; on the board of trustees of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia; and on the board of trustees of the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington, D.C.
When Quigley moves into his new position as provost and dean of faculties in June, Kalscheur will begin his new role. Both men have followed similar paths at BC. Quigley came to BC in 1998 first as an assistant professor of history, and then he was promoted as an associate dean for first-year students, before he was named as the dean of A&S in 2009.
During his five years as dean of the University’s largest school, Quigley was instrumental in attracting talented professors, developing new interdisciplinary programs in Islamic civilization and societies and environmental studies, and in the undergraduate core curriculum renewal process. He also played an important role in the design of Stokes Hall and was the founding director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts. Since 2011, Quigley has also served as interim director of the A&S Honors Program. When he takes over in June, Kalscheur will assume the same dual role until a permanent director is found.
In his role as senior associate dean of arts and sciences, Kalscheur has assisted Quigley in reviewing academic programs, in hiring faculty, and in promoting faculty engagement with the University’s intellectual and spiritual mission.
According to the ONPA, Quigley praised Kalscheur as someone well suited to lead A&S while a search process is undertaken.
