Christian Brothers’ award to honor lifetime service of Saint Mary’s President Brother William Mann

WINONA, Minn. —The Christian Brothers’ Office of Lasallian Education will honor Brother William Mann, FSC, president of Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, with the Brother John Johnston, FSC Award at a banquet Nov. 17 in Washington, D.C.

This award is the highest honor given in the De La Salle Christian Brothers Region of North America, which encompasses Lasallian education in the United States and Canada. Brother John Johnston, a 1955 Saint Mary’s alum, was former Superior General of the Christian Brothers. This award recognizes Brothers and Lasallian partners who, like Brother John Johnston, have endeavored on the international or regional levels over many years to advance the mission of providing a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor. The award is presented to those whose leadership, teaching, evangelization, or scholarly research and writing have borne witness to an abiding faith and zeal, and whose efforts have had a transformative impact upon the Christian Brothers’ founding story as lived today.

Brother William Mann has exemplified these qualities over his more than 40 years of service including as a teacher, leader, lecturer, and scholar. He has touched the hearts of Lasallians in his work at many levels, from individual schools to conferences to the headquarters of the worldwide Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Brother William is currently the 13th president of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this academic year. Not only does he encourage academic excellence at every level at Saint Mary’s, he has focused on specific initiatives that strengthen the Lasallian Catholic nature of the university.

Prior to becoming Saint Mary's president in 2008, Brother William served as Vicar General, the second highest officer in the worldwide Institute. He also previously served as Provincial and Auxiliary Provincial of the former Long Island-New England Province. He is a founder and long-term lecturer at the Buttimer Institute of Lasallian Studies, a three-year Regional formation experience in Lasallian history, pedagogy, and spirituality. He also inaugurated and now serves as an editor of AXIS: A Journal for Lasallian Higher Education, an electronic journal serving Lasallian colleges and universities.

Brother William will be presented with the award at the Distinguished Lasallian Educator Awards Banquet at the conclusion of the Huether Lasallian Conference Saturday, Nov. 17, in Washington, D.C. The Huether Lasallian Conference is an annual gathering of Lasallian educators in the Region which explores emerging educational issues and themes. This year’s theme is Faith in Action: Global Engagement through Lasallian Education. 

Saint Mary’s University inaugurates Brother William Mann as 13th president

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University inaugurated its 13th president, Brother William Mann, FSC, in front of a crowd of 1,200 on Friday, Sept. 26.

The celebration, which centered around the theme, “Lasallian Education – a World of Difference,” was held at Saint Mary’s Winona campus. Faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni and community members were invited to inauguration events.

During his convocation remarks, Brother William announced the university’s plan to explore further efforts to make Saint Mary’s more affordable to mid- and lower-income families through an expansion of the Brother James Miller Program for Access. He also announced the creation of a new Institute for Lasallian Studies in Saint Mary’s Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs, through which students can receive graduate degrees in Lasallian studies and Lasallian educational leadership on masters and doctoral levels, beginning this spring and summer.

“As a Lasallian university, Saint Mary’s is in a privileged position to be able to contribute to the vitality and the excellence of the global Lasallian educational network,” he said. “As we’re seeing in Washington today, tomorrow is not good enough. Today is the day to begin to address the empowerment of our laity in the future of the Church, the future of this institution and the future of this Lasallian family.

“Let no one doubt that this Lasallian Catholic university — under the protection and the inspiration of Mary, our patroness, and of John Baptist de La Salle, the patron of teachers — stands committed to educate and inform our students and to forge partnerships with our families, our alums, our benefactors, our friends and all people of good will,” Brother William said, “to educate students to be the agents of global transformation, to be part of the solution and not part of the problems that plague society in these opening years of the 21st century.”

Convocation participants included Winona Bishop Bernard Harrington; Harry J. Flynn, archbishop emeritus of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; David Laird Jr., president of Minnesota Private College Council; James Johnson, president of Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical; Judith Ramaley, president of Winona State University; De La Salle Christian Brothers General Councillors Brother Claude Reinhardt and Brother Robert Schieler; and Brother Francis Carr, provincial of the Midwest District of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

Brother Louis DeThomasis, chancellor and president emeritus, presented Brother William with the president’s medallion, and special recognition was given to the many Christian Brothers in attendance, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Brothers at Saint Mary’s.
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Brother William Mann is the former Vicar General of the De La Salle Christian Brothers. As Vicar General, he was the second-highest officer of the international Catholic teaching order that comprises 5,300 Christian Brothers, working in association with 73,000 lay educators to operate 930 schools and universities serving 900,000 students in 82 countries.

Brother William has spent almost 30 years traveling around the country and the world as a leader in the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and as a guiding force in the evolution of the Lasallian educational global network.

A native of New York City, Brother William joined the Christian Brothers in 1965. He began his career as an English and religion teacher, working from 1970-79 at two Christian Brother high schools in New York and Rhode Island. He then held positions directing Christian Brother formation for the Long Island-New England Province and USA/Toronto Region, and from 1990-96 he was International Secretary of Formation in Rome. He later served as Delegate Superior for India, and as Provincial for the LI-NE Province, which operates 10 educational institutions in New York City and Rhode Island.

He served on the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Board of Trustees from 1996-2001.

Brother William is a noted scholar and writer on the life and teachings of John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the patron saint of educators. He has authored and edited numerous publications examining De La Salle’s writings and spirituality, putting them into context for Lasallian educators in today’s world.