By Catholic Review Staff
William Heiser, currently principal of Catonsville High School, has been selected as Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s new president, announced Wayne Gioioso, chairman of the school’s board of trustees.
Dr. William L. Heiser
“After months of reviewing candidate qualifications, our selection committee kept returning to one person – Dr. Heiser,” Gioisoso said in a statement issued March 27.
Heiser, who has an Ed.D. in higher education from Morgan State University, will assume his new post at Cristo Rey Jesuit, located at 420 S. Chester St. in Fell’s Point, for the 2015-2016 school year. Heiser is a past principal of North Country High School in Anne Arundel County, and is the former assistant dean of Loyola University College of Arts and Sciences.
In 2013, the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals named Heiser Principal of the Year, according to Gioioso’s statement.
“We are very happy to have a leader of the caliber of Dr. Heiser accepting the top role at such an important Jesuit institution in the city of Baltimore,” commented Jesuit Father Robert Hussey, provincial for the Maryland Province Jesuits. “His talent, experience and commitment to Jesuit values and education will continue to shape the wonderful traditions Cristo Rey Jesuit has built within its student body and the community.”
“Serving as President of Cristo Rey Jesuit is truly a calling,” said Heiser in his own statement. “Having received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from Loyola University Maryland, I know firsthand how transformative a Jesuit education can be.”
Heiser added that he believes Cristo Rey Jesuit “is uniquely positioned to become a national leader and exemplar of excellence in urban, Catholic, coeducational college preparatory schools that serve students of diverse backgrounds.”
Heiser, who is married with children and attends Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City, will succeed Jesuit Father John Swope, Cristo Rey Jesuit’s founding president, who saw the first class of freshman enter the school in 2007. Father Swope announced his resignation in August of 2014.
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