University of Scranton Names Vice President for University Ministries

Earlier this year, University of Scranton President Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., announced the appointment of Rev. Richard G. Malloy, S.J., as vice president for university ministries. He arrived in Scranton in August after serving for two months as the Catholic chaplain in Yellowstone National Park.

In his role as vice president, he will lead the University Ministries Division, which includes Campus Ministries, the International Service Program and the Community Outreach Office.

A cultural anthropologist by discipline, Father Malloy’s areas of research and interest include poverty in urban areas, Latinos and immigration, the interaction between Catholic higher education and contemporary culture and the interaction of current cultural trends with the understanding, practice and living of our faith. His book, “A Faith That Frees: Catholic Matters for the 21^st Century,” won the second place award from the Catholic Press Association in 2008 in the category of Best Presentation of the Catholic Faith. He has published numerous articles in Catholic newspapers, magazines and other publications including “The Truly Catholic University” and “Liberating Students – From Paris Hilton, Howard Stern and Jim Beam” that appear in George Traub’s A Jesuit Education Reader (2008). He has also led and presented at many retreats and workshops.

Previously, Father Malloy served as an assistant professor of cultural anthropology and sociology and as the director of the Intercultural Foundations Program at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. He also served as interim director of campus ministry and as an assistant professor of anthropology and sociology at St. Joseph’s University, also in Philadelphia. While at St. Joseph’s, he served as a Jesuit faculty in residence in a freshman residence hall. Previously, he served as the superior of the Jesuit Community in Camden, N.J., and as associate pastor of Holy Name Church in Camden (1988-2003).

Entering the Jesuits in 1976, Fr. Malloy earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Temple University. He earned a master’s of divinity and a S.T.L. from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. During his Jesuit training, Fr. Malloy served for three years (1981-1984) in Osorno and Santiago, Chile. He is fluent in Spanish. He was ordained in 1988.