Welcome Fr. Ganz, S.J.

Jesuit priest to help lead Marylhurst University

Fr. Rick Ganz
As published in The Catholic Sentinel on April 1, 2009




MARYLHURST — A longtime Jesuit educator has been named to a top post at Marylhurst University.

Father Rick Ganz, a member of the Oregon Province of Jesuits for 36 years, is new special counsel to Judi Johansen, Marylhurst’s president.

Ganz will help oversee long-term planning, teach classes and support university ministry. He’s also been charged with enhancing Marylhurst’s presence in the community.

Father Ganz served as a high school and college teacher and administrator. Most recently, he served as the director of campus ministry at Gonzaga University in Spokane, where he became known for trying to link education and spiritual lives. Before that, he served as a teacher and administrator at Jesuit High School.

“The depth and diverse expertise of Father Ganz will add a new dimension to our leadership team,” Johansen said. “Marylhurst will benefit from the wisdom he has gained through his dedicated years of service as an educator and spiritual guide.”

Johansen credited the priest for his “wonderful ability to inspire mission-focused institutions to understand their unique purpose.”

Marylhurst, Oregon’s oldest Catholic university, was founded in 1893 by the Sisters of the Holy Names. In recent years, it has sought to reach out to non-traditional students via small classes offered on weekdays, evenings, weekends and online.

The presence of Father Ganz on campus continues a long partnership between the Holy Names Sisters and the Jesuits.

“We are both forward-looking, and we are both apostolic communities,” Holy Names leadership team member Sister Jane Hibbard told the Sentinel for a 2008 story about the connections.

“We all value continuing education and continuing spiritual development. There is a real sense of nothing being finished yet.”