Two U.S. Province Priests Finalists for Stonehill Presidency

Two U.S. Province priests are finalists to become the 10^th President of Stonehill College, North Easton, Mass.

Stonehill was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1948.

Rev. John F. Denning, C.S.C., and Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C., will be on campus in April to meet with the Presidential Search Committee and participate in two public meetings with the college community.

Fr. Denning is the Vice President for Student Affairs at Stonehill. He served as Vice President for Mission at the College from 2001 to 2007 and also served as Director of Campus Ministry from 2000 to 2003. He is a doctoral candidate in higher education administration at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Fr. Denning, who celebrated his 25^th anniversary of Ordination in 2012, is also a Trustee of King’s College (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.), another Holy Cross institution. Fr. Denning previously served as Director of Vocations for the former Eastern Province of Priests and Brothers, Campus Minister and Teacher at Coyle-Cassidy High School in Taunton, Mass., and as Director of Campus Ministry at Bridgewater State College, where he also served as Director of the Catholic Center.

Fr. Denning was born on Oct. 2, 1959 in East Providence, R.I. He made his Final vows in 1986 and was Ordained in 1987. He received a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in 1981 and his M.Div. from the University of Toronto in 1986.

Fr. Tyson completed nine years as Provincial Superior of the United States Province in June 2012. From 1990 to 2003, he served as President of the University of Portland (Ore.). Prior to that, Fr. Tyson spent more than two decades at the University of Notre Dame in positions ranging from residence hall staff to Vice President for Student Affairs. He also has been a management professor at both Notre Dame and Portland. Fr. Tyson has served three terms as a Trustee at Stonehill.

Fr. Tyson was born in Gary, Ind., on April 7, 1948. He received a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1970 from the University of Notre Dame, where he also earned a master’s of theology in 1974. Fr. Tyson received a doctorate in higher education administration from Indiana University Bloomington in 1980. He made his Final Vows in 1974 and was Ordained in 1975.

The search committee plans to give its recommendation to the Stonehill Board of Trustees on May 17.

Find out more about the search for a new president on Stonehill’s website.