Worldwide Experience

Fr. Zimmer will bring a wealth of leadership insight as USF’s next president

The career of Rev. Dr. Eric A. Zimmer has taken him from Detroit to Delhi, from Nepal to Nairobi, from Bombay to Berkeley and from the Vatican to Notre Dame. And that’s a greatly condensed version, deleting all sorts of points in between.

As he prepares to assume the role of University of Saint Francis president on July 1, Fr. Zimmer brings a wealth of experience in education and beyond.

He is eager to hit the ground running.

“Saint Francis is wonderfully placed to continue to develop and grow and perhaps do so on a much greater level than anyone would have thought a couple of decades ago,” Fr. Zimmer said. “When Sister Elise came on, it was a much smaller school. She’s developed it tremendously, building up the campus and the new buildings and the new chapel and all these wonderful things. We want to continue to build on that.”

Taking on the University of Saint Francis presidency after the 27 years of transformational leadership of Sister M. Elise Kriss will require a dedicated, relentless leader who is tireless and willing to embrace change. Fr. Zimmer should fit the bill.

He currently serves as an associate business professor at the University of Notre Dame and pastor of Saint Patrick’s Church in Walkerton, Ind. But those are merely the latest entries in a long, storied resume.

Multitasking and accepting challenges is a hallmark of Fr. Zimmer’s career. While teaching English in Nepal, Fr. Zimmer took two lessons a day in Nepalese. While working as a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., he flew every two weeks to Chicago, earning a master’s in business administration at the University of Chicago. During

“When Sister Elise came on, it was a much smaller school. She’s developed it tremendously, building up the campus and the new buildings and the new chapel and all these wonderful things. We want to continue to build on that.”

- REV. DR. ERIC A. ZIMMER

his time at Georgetown, he was also an Air Force chaplain and the state chaplain for the Knights of Columbus. In addition, he simultaneously served on the board of Loyola University New Orleans, Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, preached weekend retreats at Jesuit retreat houses in Louisiana and Georgia, and served as a trustee of a charitable trust that provides scholarships to needy children.

The third of five children, young Eric Zimmer’s natural leadership abilities emerged at a Detroit-area Jesuit high school. As a senior, he ran a tutoring program for younger students. During his novitiate, he worked in a westside Detroit major trauma center emergency room. He also worked at a home for terminally ill cancer patients. “I had never thought about being a doctor and I thought, ‘This is really cool, I could do that,’ but I was already on another track,” he said. “Years later, I ended up on faculty of a medical school.” He performed translation work for Catholic Charities in Mexico, earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Loyola of New Orleans, and earned a master’s in English literature at the University of Minnesota. He has a doctorate in communications from the University of Pennsylvania.

As part of his Jesuit education—he earned an M.Div and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley—Fr. Zimmer took part in two 30-day silent retreats, known as Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola.

“It’s very life-changing in getting focused on what’s important in the world, making sure you’re working toward the Kingdom rather than oneself,” he said. “There’s a St. Ignatius prayer for generosity, and it’s a very nice prayer, about giving without concerning the cost, doing anything necessary in following God’s will at whatever personal cost.”

He moved steadily into more responsibility, relocating to Rome in 2008 to work for the Vatican as Official of the Secretariat for the Congregation for Catholic Education, Universities Section, Holy See. Fr. Zimmer directed Vatican oversight of 1,013 Anglophone Catholic universities, with hands-on oversight of 38 post-secondary Catholic institutions.

“I approved the rank and tenure of anyone hired at these 38 institutions,” he said. “I handled the appointment of rectors, deans and presidents, essentially any senior leadership. I was responsible for all that, and for handling the set-up of new institutions, or mergers or shutting down of institutions.”

After two years in the Vatican, Fr. Zimmer went to Creighton University, where he was Director of Leadership Development and set up a workshop program in leadership and management for physicians that continues today. After that, the Vatican tapped him to be an attaché for the Holy See Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Upon leaving the Jesuits to join the Diocese, Fr. Zimmer was asked by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese to assume leadership of Saint Patrick’s Church in Walkerton as well as continue with his teaching at Notre Dame in the Mendoza College of Business. Fr. Zimmer also continued to increase his expertise in fundraising. Among his accomplishments was developing the fundraising arm of the National Office for Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing.

At USF, Fr. Zimmer will have a single job, but with many facets and responsibilities.

“The fundraising is preeminent. Also, managing a team, fulfilling the strategic initiatives of the board, working with the board and working with the community,” Fr. Zimmer said. “Sister Elise has been very gracious with connecting me with benefactors, faculty, staff and students. I’m excited. There is a ton of stuff to do.”