Rev. John Thiede, S.J., has been named vice president for mission and ministry, President Michael R. Lovell announced today. Father Thiede, who has been serving in the acting vice president for mission and ministry role since May, will begin in his new role effective immediately.
“In his time as acting vice president for mission and ministry, Father Thiede has demonstrated thoughtful, pastoral leadership, providing essential counsel to other university leaders and me throughout,” President Lovell said. “He cares deeply about the Marquette community, and I have great confidence in his strategic thinking and community-centered approach to advancing Marquette’s mission.”
“In stepping into the important role of vice president for mission and ministry, Father Thiede is answering a call to serve God by ensuring the students, faculty and staff of Marquette University uphold and advance the institution’s Jesuit and Catholic mission,” said Rev. Karl Kiser, S.J., provincial of the USA Midwest Province of Jesuits. “The province and I offer Father Thiede many blessings for his work ahead.”
“I am truly humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve the Marquette University community in this way,” Father Thiede said. “I have enjoyed working with our faculty, staff and students and the many ways they carry out our Catholic and Jesuit mission, and I look forward to furthering our university’s proud tradition of providing a transformative academic and co-curricular experience for our students and supporting the spiritual well-being of our talented faculty and staff.”
Under his leadership as acting vice president for mission and ministry, Father Thiede introduced the university’s mission theme for the year: “En Todo Amar y Servir” or “To Love and Serve in Everything,” a phrase that comes from the Fourth Week of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius.
“When one realizes that the love of God permeates our created world, how might we respond? With a desire to bring love to the world: cultivating unconditional acceptance, working together to lift each other up, and showing everyone what it means to be loved,” Father Thiede wrote. “And since love shines the brightest when we see it in action, we are also called to serve. With faith, we serve by trusting God to guide us. With kindness, we serve by being compassionate. With joy, we serve by sharing all we have. With openness, we serve by being a university for and with others.”
Prior to accepting the acting vice president for mission and ministry role, Father Thiede had been working in the Provost’s Office, traveling with President Lovell on fundraising visits, assisting Provost Kimo Ah Yun with Jesuit high school enrollment strategies, and working closely with Dr. John Su, vice provost for academic affairs and student success on the university’s Student Success Initiative. Father Thiede was named the first participant in the Currie Fellowship Program by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, where he served on the president’s cabinet at Rockhurst University to learn the complexities of leading a Jesuit higher educational institution.
An associate professor of theology at Marquette and a fluent Spanish speaker, Father Thiede is currently working on a co-authored book on politics, religion and democracy in Latin America with Rev. Matthew Carnes, S.J., of Georgetown University, and his own book on Saint Oscar Romero and his theological influences for Fortress Press.
Father Thiede earned his Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of Notre Dame and published his first book with Lexington Books, a division of Rowman and Littlefield, titled: “Remembering Oscar Romero and the Martyrs of El Salvador: A Cloud of Witnesses.” He specializes in Christology and Latin American theology, and currently serves on the board of trustees at Xavier University and on the board of directors at Marquette University High School.
