Rev. John “Jack” Butler, S.J., Haub vice president for University Mission and Ministry, will serve as the 26th president of Boston College, Board of Trustees Chair John Fish announced in an email to the BC community Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m humbled, I’m a little bit overwhelmed, I’m excited, I’m very grateful, and I’m looking forward to taking care of a community that’s cared for me for 23 years,” Butler said to The Heights.
Butler will succeed Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., who became the University president in 1996 and held the longest tenure of any president in BC history.
“Fr. Butler has served the University admirably as a respected administrator and Jesuit priest for the past 22 years, partnering closely with faculty and administrators at BC to promote the distinctive mission, culture, and heritage of Boston College, especially the integration of intellectual excellence and religious commitment as well as Jesuit, Catholic dimensions,” the announcement reads.
Butler said he found out he had been selected as the next University president just 10 to 15 minutes before the rest of the BC community was notified.
“I just want to continue our trajectory,” Butler said to The Heights. “I want to continue our momentum, our continuity, and our stability.”
Butler came to BC in 2002 as a campus minister and was promoted to his current role in University Mission and Ministry in 2010. That same year, he was tapped to join Leahy’s senior leadership team and to serve as chaplain to the BC football team.
He later joined an effort to renew BC’s Core Curriculum and sat on search committees for all senior administrator positions, according to the announcement.
Butler earned a degree in religious studies from St. Thomas University in 1987 before obtaining a master’s in theology from Providence College. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1991 and later earned both a master’s and a doctorate in pastoral counseling from Loyola University Maryland.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 2000 and took his final vows as a Jesuit in 2015.
Before joining the higher education ministry, Butler worked within the prison system, serving as the assistant director and counselor at St. Joseph Prison Ministry in Framingham, Mass.
The announcement called Butler “a gifted speaker and homilist” who has often been called upon to address students, staff, faculty, and alumni at events, and has represented BC across the nation.
Butler keeps a low internet profile, and limited information about him exists online.
“I have been involved in education as a teacher and administrator since my early 20s, so it is with great humility and gratitude that I prepare to embark on this new role of leading one of the nation’s best institutions of higher learning,” Butler said in the University’s release.
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