Gonzaga picks Seton Hall provost Katia Passerini to be next president

Gonzaga University’s next president will have more than 20 years experience in higher education and serves as the provost of Seton Hall University, Gonzaga announced in a news release on Wednesday.

Katia Passerini will replace Thayne McCulloh in July. McCulloh, who will have served the past 16 years as president, announced last year that he would retire.

Passerini, who was described by Gonzaga as a “lifelong Catholic,” was born in Italy. She will be the first woman to lead Gonzaga. McCulloh was the first Gonzaga president who was not a member of the clergy.

“I am very excited to join the Gonzaga University family this coming summer,” Passerini said in a prepared statement. “Gonzaga is clearly a very special place: a dynamic university with a national reputation for quality, dedicated to the holistic education of students. Coming to know this community ... is going to be a wonderful journey.”

I am deeply grateful to the Board of Trustees for its confidence in me and look forward to coming to know the university and region.”

Passerini, who was in Spokane visiting the school Wednesday, and Gonzaga leadership were not made available for comment Wednesday, said Jamie Aitken, Gonzaga spokesman.

Passerini was appointed interim president at Seton Hall, located about 15 miles from New York City in South Orange, New Jersey, in July 2023 and served one year as president. She took over for Joseph Nyre, who resigned after four years leading the institution.

Nyre and his wife, Kelli Nyre, filed a lawsuit against Seton Hall last February claiming the school’s former board chairman, Kevin Marino, sexually harassed Kelli Nyre, according to a New York Times story in July. A legal firm hired by Seton Hall to investigate the claims found no evidence to support the accusations, according to the NYT.

Joseph Reilly took the presidential reins from Passerini last July. Reilly’s appointment marked the return of a priest president to Seton Hall, a “hallmark of the University for 146 years of its 168-year history,” according to Seton Hall’s website.

Nathaniel Knight, faculty senate chairman and history professor at Seton Hall, spoke highly of Passerini, saying she was a “calming presence” who helped maintain stability and focus on the school’s mission amid the presidential turmoil last year.

Knight said Passerini is very personable, a good listener and someone who brings people together.

“I would say she was at her best in her role as interim president,” Knight said.

He said she was successful in managing the various relations a president has to manage, such as working with faculty, students, parents, alumni and donors.

“I think she did very well in handling all of those relations and remaining well liked at the end of it,” Knight said.

She said her focuses are in innovation and put forth a number of initiatives, like the Academies Initiative, to foster that innovation.

The Academies, which Knight called an internal grant program, is focused on fostering interdisciplinary innovation. Faculty members are invited to apply as teams across different disciplines to come up with topics around larger interdisciplinary themes, Knight said.

As provost, Passerini awarded funding for chosen academies.

“I certainly think that she has a very strong commitment to Catholic higher education,” Knight said. “That was clear form the start.”

He said Passerini informed Knight Wednesday morning ahead of Gonzaga’s announcement that she was taking the school’s top position. Knight said her phone call letting faculty know she was leaving so they weren’t blindsided by the news was indicative of her leadership style.

“I think she’s been a positive presence here and I think we’ll miss having here, but I understand why she would want a position as president at a school like Gonzaga,” Knight said.

Passerini was selected following a national search by the university’s Presidential Search Committee, led by previous Board of Trustees Chair Christy Larsen, and comprised of student, faculty, staff, university administrators and members of the Board of Trustees and Regents, Gonzaga said in a news release.

“After a seven-month national search, involving a highly qualified and diverse pool of candidates, I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Passerini will be Gonzaga’s next president,” D. Michael Reilly, chairman of the Gonzaga Board of Trustees, said in the university’s release. “Her current role as Provost and Senior Executive Vice President at Seton Hall University, together with her previous academic and administrative appointments, have prepared her well for this next stage in a stellar higher education career.”

Prior to joining Seton Hall in 2020, Passerini was chair and dean of the College of Professional Studies at St. John’s University. She was also a professor in the Division of Computer Science, Mathematics and Science.

From 2003 to 2013, she was professor and chair of Management Information Systems at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She also served in the Information Systems Department in NJIT’s College of Computing Sciences.

From 2013 to 2016, she served as dean for NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College, where she worked with the Board of Visitors to launch the Honors College’s strategic plan while advising, recruiting, and developing new programs and articulations.

Passerini has a political science degree from LUISS University (Italy) and an economics degree from University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy). She also has master’s and doctorate degrees from George Washington University and a certificate in business project management from New York University.

Passerini and her husband, Arturo Pagan, have three sons, Luis (23), Michelangelo (21) and Diego (13). The family plans to relocate to Spokane this summer, according to Gonzaga.