Fr. Warren Sazama, SJ

MILWAUKEE – Fr. Warren Sazama, SJ has been missioned by Wisconsin Fr. Provincial Tom Krettek, SJ to be the new president of Marquette University High School. He succeeds interim president Fr. Edward Mathie, SJ and will begin his new assignment prior to the start of the 2006-07 school year.

Currently the Wisconsin Province vocations director, Fr. Sazama was the unanimous choice of the Marquette High School Board of Directors, which conducted a national search of both Jesuit and lay candidates.

“Fr. Sazama brings a clear understanding and appreciation for the mission of Jesuit education at Marquette High School,” says Bill Burkhart, board chairman. A Catholic, urban, college preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition, Marquette’s mission is to educate young men to become community leaders of intellectual excellence, sincere compassion, and resolute conscience who serve God by serving others.

“I look forward to this opportunity to serve and strengthen the Jesuit Catholic mission and identity of Marquette High with its strong, 150-year tradition in the Milwaukee community,” Fr. Sazama says. “As vocations director I have spent the past six years helping young men discern how God is calling them to serve. Marquette High helps set the stage for such decisions by forming and preparing young men for leadership, faith, and service.”

A Milwaukee native, Fr. Sazama graduated from Marquette High in 1964. He received his bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University in 1970 and his master’s degree in philosophy in 1973. Fr. Sazama also received a master’s of divinity degree (1977) from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and a master’s degree in pastoral counseling (1979) from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1964 and was ordained a priest in 1977.

Fr. Sazama was selected after a comprehensive national search process that compiled and reviewed numerous applications from both Jesuits and lay people. A total of 31 representatives from faculty, staff, administration, alumni, and parents conducted the interviews and Fr. Sazama was their clear choice.

“Fr. Sazama has served Marquette High School at various times and in different capacities for a total of 16 years. He has been a theology teacher, chair of the theology department, pastoral director, and guidance director. This broad range of experience gives him a unique understanding of the workings of the school at every level, ” says Mary Ellen Stanek, co-chair of the search committee.

Adds Fr. James Flaherty, SJ, the other committee co-chair: “In addition to Fr. Sazama’s Marquette High experience, he was president of the Jesuit Partnership, the fundraising arm of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, giving him a rare combination of administrative, financial, and pastoral leadership.”

Pat Dunphy, a board member and chair of Marquette High’s 150th anniversary campaign, also has high praise for the new president. “Fr. Sazama is an experienced administrator and a decisive leader who has a history at Marquette. He believes in our school’s mission and will be an articulate spokesman for that mission. I am excited about working with him. ”

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