Rev. James P. McDermott, S.J., Arts ’91, was elected to the Marquette University Board of Trustees in 2003.
He is a student in screenwriting at U.C.L.A.
Originally from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Father McDermott received his bachelor’s degree in English from Marquette in 1991. He earned a master’s degree in English and American Literature and Languages from Harvard University, and holds a master’s degree in divinity and a licentiate in sacred theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass.
After his ordination in 2003, Father McDermott worked as an associate pastor at Gesu Parish in Milwaukee, and then as an associate editor at America Magazine, a Jesuit-run Catholic weekly based in New York City. While at America he wrote on topics ranging from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the television show Lost to the music of the St. Louis Jesuits and life in the outback of Australia. He also shot a number of short films for the magazine's web site, and has produced a number of other films, including a muti-DVD oral history of the Society of Jesus.
In 2008 he spent seven months working and studying in Sydney, Melbourne and the outback of Australia; and in 2009 he traveled to 11 cities in China to shoot a film on Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci.
Before being ordained, Father McDermott worked as the chair of English and drama at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, as a tutor in the Cabrini Green Housing Projects of Chicago, and with homeless youth in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is particularly concerned with the empowerment of Native peoples and at-risk youth; Catholic liturgy and scripture; and popular culture, particularly mainstream television, for which he is training to be a writer.
Father McDermott writes a blog at jimmcdermott.blogspot.com.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
- Mr. Ned W. Bechthold
- Ms. Natalie A. Black
- Mr. John F. Ferraro
- Rev. James P. Flaherty, S.J.,
- Mr. Richard J. Fotsch
- Rev. James G. Gartland, S.J.,
- Mr. Darren R. Jackson
- Mr. James F. Janz
- Mr. Jeffrey A. Joerres
- Rev. Timothy R. Lannon, S.J.
- Rev. Thomas A. Lawler, S.J.
- Mr. John P. Lynch
- Dr. Arnold L. Mitchem
- Rev. Joseph M. O'Keefe, S.J.
- Mr. James D. O'Rourke
- Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.
- Ms. Kristine A. Rappé
- Mr. Joseph J. Rauenhorst
- Mr. Glenn A. Rivers
- Mr. James A. Runde
- Hon. W. Greg Ryberg
- Mrs. Mary Ladish Selander
- Ms. Mary Ellen Stanek
- Mr. John J. Stollenwerk
- Mr. Charles M. Swoboda
- Ms. Cherryl T. Thomas
- Mr. Benjamin S. Tracy
- Ms. Peggy Troy
- Ms. Rhona Vogel
- Rev. Michael A. Zampelli, S.J.
- Ms. Anne A. Zizzo
Quick Facts About Marquette
| Identity: | Catholic, Jesuit, private |
| Established: | 1881 |
| Location: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Undergraduate: | 8,113 |
| Postgraduate: | 3,693 |
| Campus: | Urban, approximately 90 acres |
| Athletics: | 16 NCAA Division I teams (Big East) |
| Colors: | Blue and gold |
