These are the biographical summaries of the Class of 1955. They are in alphabetical order, cross referenced with our field of excellence. Note the dates...this indicates when they were written.

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J

Updated May, 2003

Saint Peter's College

Jesuit Community

50 Glenwood Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306

201-432-8083

raymondschroth@aol.com

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. Fordham University After graduating from Fordham, Ray joined the U.S. Army as an antiaircraft artillery officer in Germany for two years and joined the Society of Jesus in 1957. Ordained a priest in 1967, he obtained his PhD in American Thought and Culture at George Washington University and taught journalism until 1979. During that time he also served as associate editor and book editor of Commonweal magazine.

After two years as Academic Dean of Rockhurst College in Kansas City, he became Academic Dean of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. In 1985-86 academic years he held the Will and Ariel Durant Chair in the Humanities at St. Peter's College in Jersey City. For the next ten years (1986 to 1996) Ray taught at Loyola University in New Orleans, and was advisor to the Maroon, Loyola's prize-winning newspaper. In 1995 the Southeast Journalism Conference named him Journalism Educator of the Year. He is now assistant dean of Fordham College Rose Hill and was director of the Matteo Ricci Society, which prepares students to compete for prestigious fellowships. Since 1997 he has served as a resident faculty member in the student residence hall.

Ray has published four books: The Eagle and Brooklyn: A Community Newspaper (Greenwood) Books for Believers: 35 Books Every Catholic Should Read (Paulist); with Jeff Theilman, Volunteer: With the Poor in Peru (Paulist); and The American Journal of Eric Sevareid (Steerforth), a biography of the CBS commentator.

He is currently finishing two new books. Fordham: A History & Memoir and Spiritual Classics: 50 Essays (Loyola Chicago Press).

In recent summers Ray has traveled to Gabon, South America, Peru, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, France, Thailand, Vietnam, Cuba and Indonesia to educate himself, write articles and take pictures. His articles and reviews on politics, religion, the media and literature have appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review, Commonweal, America, National Catholic Reporter, Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, Kansas City Star, The Boston Globe, and many other publications. From time to time he lectures and appears on radio and TV. In his free time he runs, swims, bikes, reads, go to the movies and restaurants and prays.

Ray is the son of Raymond A. Schroth, of Trenton N.J., a World War I hero and an editorial writer and reporter for the Trenton Times, the Brooklyn Eagle and New York Herald Tribune for over 40 years, and of Mildred (Murphy) Schroth, of Bordentown N. J. a teacher in Trenton public and Catholic school systems. Ray has a brother, Dave, Fordham C'57, Fordham Law' 61, who is a retired Superior Court Justice.