Rev. Joseph M. McShane, SJ, ’67 Honored With 2025 Deo et Patriae Award

Rev. Joseph M. McShane, SJ, ’67, the Superior of the Scranton Jesuit Community and the former President of the University of Scranton and Fordham University, was honored with Regis’s 2025 Deo et Patriae Award on Wednesday evening. The award, presented this year at a reception that also celebrated the generous supporters of our successful Ready to Do campaign, is given annually to a person who has served Regis and the community in a distinguished capacity during the course of his or her life.

Fr. McShane was celebrated for his outstanding dedication to Jesuit education and for his service to Regis. During his tenures in Scranton and the Bronx, he was instrumental in establishing the residential component for Regis’s REACH Program on both campuses.

"My debt to Regis is enormous," said Fr. McShane. "In fact, is not wide of the mark to say that after my parents, Regis was the most formative influence in my life. And so the truth of the matter is I owe just about everything — everything I have and everything I have become — to Regis. Everything."

Added Fr. McShane: "I can say that Regis not only happened to me, but that Regis happens in me and in my heart every day."

Presenting the Deo et Patriae Award, President Rev. Christopher Devron, SJ, celebrated the impact Fr. McShane has had on the lives of alumni of Fordham, Scranton, Regis, and REACH.

"We are here tonight to pay tribute to your transformative leadership in Catholic and Jesuit education, not only here in New York City, but dispersed as it is over generations and across the country," said Fr. Devron.

Fr. McShane was introduced by Mr. Russell Quiñones ’09, the Director of the REACH Program.

"Most first-generation college students are unable to envision a future with a university diploma," said Mr. Quiñones. "At REACH, and thanks to Fr. McShane, we offer that vision at not just one, but two Jesuit universities."

A native New Yorker, Fr. McShane entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of Saint Andrew-on-Hudson immediately after graduating from Regis. After taking his first vows, he studied at Boston College, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy and a master’s degree in English.

He taught English at Canisius High School in Buffalo from 1972 to 1974, and upon the completion of his regency in Buffalo, he studied theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, from which he received both an M.Div. and an S.T.M. in 1977. Following ordination in June of 1977, he served on the staff of Saint Ignatius Retreat House (Inisfada) in Manhasset until 1978. He then attended the University of Chicago, from which he received a doctorate in the history of Christianity in 1981.

He taught religious studies at LeMoyne College in Syracuse before being named the Dean of Fordham College, a post in which he served from 1992 to 1998. In 1998, he assumed the presidency of the University of Scranton. In 2003, he returned to Fordham, where he served as President from 2003 until 2022 and is now President Emeritus.

During his time at Fordham, the university invested $1 billion in new construction and infrastructure improvements, raised more than $1 billion in donations, and increased its endowment to more than $1 billion.

Fr. McShane has served on the boards of Regis High School, Fordham Preparatory School, Scranton Preparatory School, Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School, Loyola Blakefield, Loyola University of New Orleans, Saint Louis University, Santa Clara University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Scranton, Fordham University, the YMCA of New York, the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education, the Presidents’ Committee of the Association of Governing Boards, the Vatican Observatory, and the Bloomberg Family Foundation.