St. John’s University Board of Trustees Appoints Rev. Patrick Griffin Executive Vice President for Mission, Branch Campuses

St. John’s University’s Board of Trustees has elected Rev. Patrick Griffin, C.M. as Executive Vice President for Mission and Branch Campuses effective August 1, 2008.

“I am delighted that our Board of Trustees has appointed Father Griffin to this important position,” said Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s University. “He has been a part of the St. John’s Community since 1996 and that will make for a smooth transition into his new role with the University.”

Father Griffin replaces Rev. Michael Carroll, C.M., who will leave St. John’s in early June to assume his new responsibilities as Provincial for the Eastern Province. As Executive V. P. for Mission and Branch Campuses, Fr. Griffin will take responsibility for promoting and supporting the Catholic and Vincentian character of St. John’s across all levels of the University community.  He will also oversee the St. John’s campuses in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Oakdale, New York.

A member of the St. John’s Board of Trustees serving as Chair of the Personnel Committee, Father Griffin also holds membership on the Executive and Fiscal Resource Management Committees. Earlier in his priesthood, he was a member of the St. John’s faculty teaching in the Theology Department.

A graduate of Niagara University, where he earned a B.S. in physics, Father Griffin received the M.Div. in Theology and a Th.M. in Theology from Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, PA and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from The Catholic University of America.

In addition to serving on the faculty at St. John’s, he has taught at Niagara University, Mary Immaculate Seminary, and the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, NY, where he currently holds the rank of Professor. From 1993-1999 he was Econome General for the Congregation of the Mission in Rome. He has been a member of the Provincial Council for the Vincentian community’s Eastern Province since 2000.

For more information contact Dominic Scianna, Assistant Vice President for Media Relations at St. John’s University by calling (718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries to sciannad@stjohns.edu. More information about St. John’s can be found on the University web site at www.stjohns.edu/news.