Jesuit Father Edward F. Salmon, who has been serving as interim president of McQuaid Jesuit since July, was elected as the school’s president Dec. 13 following a presidential search conducted by the school’s board of trustees.
Father Salmon, 73, said McQuaid, a private Catholic college-preparatory school for young men in grades 7 to 12, already has a solid foundation of support from its faculty and parents.
“My hope is that I will be able to build on that love and encouragement and support as we move into the future,” Salmon said.
He noted that the school will begin a new round of strategic planning beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year and encompassing the next seven years. The strategic plan will map out the school’s plans to review its core Ignatian identity, improve academic quality, make facility improvements and renovations, foster the ongoing professional development of faculty and staff, market McQuaid Jesuit to the wider community, and increase the school’s endowment, which is used for financial aid and faculty and staff development.
He said the school plans to add a sixth grade and will be revamping its science labs.
“We have not made the announcement yet (of the sixth-grade addition) because it requires serious planning to meet the academic challenges,” Father Salmon said.
From 2002 to 2007, Father Salmon was superior of the Jesuit community at McQuaid, and also served as faculty and staff chaplain and Latin teacher at the school. He also chaired the board of trustee’s Ignatian Identity Committee, and has has worked locally as a retreat and spiritual director.
Before returning to McQuaid as its interim president, Father Salmon worked as the superior of the America House Jesuit community and was director of Ignatian Identity at Regis High School in New York City. Additionally, Father Salmon has been president of St. Peter’s Prep, a Jesuit high school in Jersey City, N.J.; a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Peter’s College and of St. Aloysius Academy; and director of Mount Manresa Retreat House on Staten Island. Prior to entering the Society of Jesus, Father Salmon worked in human resources and labor relations.
The school’s previous president, William A. Hobbs, stepped down to become a vice president of the national Jesuit Secondary Educational Association.
