Jesuit Heads Back To Wisconsin Province

Father William J. Sullivan's transformative impact on Seattle University

Father William Sullivan, in his 32 years at Seattle University as president and later chancellor, helped to transform the university. Current SU President Stephen V. Sundborg suggests Sullivan's work has set it on a course to be the Northwest's premier independent university.

By Stephen V. Sundborg

Special to the Times

FATHER William J. Sullivan follows in the long line of Jesuit missionaries who worked far afield, often for decades, and then were called home when their work was done. This month, after 34 years nurturing and transforming Seattle University, he returns to the Wisconsin Province of Jesuits, in the state where he grew up.

Sullivan served for 20 years as president of Seattle University and another 12 years as chancellor, assisting me, his successor. He purchased a law school, built the internationally acclaimed Chapel of St. Ignatius, righted our university's financially listing ship, and set it on its present course to be the premier independent university of the Northwest. In appreciation, Seattle University and the Seattle community have proclaimed him the school's first president emeritus, hosted a reception for the entire campus community, and toasted him at a Rainier Club dinner attended by, among others, Bill Gates, whose wedding to Melinda French was performed by Fr. Sullivan in 1993. The honors were fitting tributes, for in mind, spirit and deed, Fr. Sullivan stands among the greatest generation of the nation's Jesuit university presidents.

Link (here) to the full article.

Photo is of Fr. William Sullivan, S.J. and Bill Gates