Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J.
President of Fairfield University
In July 2004, Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., assumed the presidency of Fairfield University, becoming the eighth Jesuit to hold the position since the institution’s founding in 1942. His approach to the intellectual life reflects the best of what Jesuit education offers the world – the integration of knowledge and values as the foundation for unity of mind, body, and spirit.
An historian by discipline, Fr. von Arx began his academic career at Georgetown University, where he taught in the History Department from 1982 and was its chair from 1991 to 1997. He then moved into administration at Fordham University, serving as Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill.
Born in Bellefont, Penn., and raised in Locust Valley on Long Island, Fr. von Arx graduated from Princeton University in 1969 and entered the Society of Jesus that summer. He subsequently earned an M.A. and M.Phil. in history at Yale University, and completed his Ph.D. there in 1980. A year later, he received an M.Div. from the Weston School of Theology and was ordained a priest. He has served or is currently on the boards of trustees of many Jesuit institutions, including Boston College and Xavier University.
