Ryan Sheehan Named Executive Director

Ryan Sheehan, J.D., has been named executive director of the Jesuit Center at The University of Scranton, effective June 1, 2022.

Sheehan joined The University of Scranton in 2012 as assistant director of The Jesuit Center. During his time at Scranton, he has led numerous retreats and seminars for staff and faculty members to learn, experience and explore Ignatian spirituality. He has also served as interim executive director in 2017. Among the programs he led was the “Footsteps of Ignatius Pilgrimage,” which begins with a nine-month on-campus Ignatian Leadership Program and culminates with a summer trip to Spain and Italy to visit the important sites in the life of St. Ignatius and other prominent Jesuits.

Sheehan also serves as an adjunct professor in several departments at Scranton, including political science, philosophy, English and history.

In addition, Sheehan leads immersion trips for the Kino Border Initiative for the Ignatian Colleagues Program, which is a national program of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities designed to educate and form administrators and faculty more deeply in the Jesuit and Catholic tradition of higher education.

Prior to joining the University, Sheehan worked and lived with Native Americans in Arizona and New Mexico, serving as a teacher and coach at St. Michael Indian School, a Catholic school on the Navajo Reservation.

Sheehan earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware, his master’s degree from Western New Mexico University and his juris doctor degree from Arizona State University.