Background
Wildes, Kevin William was born on September 27, 1954. Son of William James and Irene Theresa (Lane) Wildes.
Wildes, Kevin William was born on September 27, 1954. Son of William James and Irene Theresa (Lane) Wildes.
Master of Arts, Fordham University, 1980. Master of Divinity, Weston School Theology, 1986. Doctor of Philosophy, Rice University, 1993.
He was formally installed as the school"s 16th president on July 1, 2004. During his second year in the position, he was charged with seeing the school through Hurricane Katrina. On April 10, 2006, President Wildes unveiled Pathways - Toward Our Second Century, Loyola"s strategic plan in response to the university"s 15 million dollar budget deficit following Hurricane Katrina.
The proposal restructured the academic colleges of Loyola and included program and personnel cuts.
The Pathways plan encountered opposition from the university community. The Board of Trustees however unanimously approved and passed the plan in a meeting on May 19, 2006.
On 26 September 2006, the faculty of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences, the largest college, voted "no confidence" in President Wildes with 76% of voting faculty supporting the measure. Prior to joining the Jesuits, Wildes was a boxer, a sport he continues as an amateur and a teacher.
Before taking his current position, he worked at Georgetown University where he was a chaplain in residence, beginning his tradition of living in the student residences, and an important advocate for fund raising for the school.
His weekly informal masses in his residence attracted a loyal following among students. As an author, he has published numerous works on ethics and morality, especially in the field of bioethics which he has lectured widely on. He has been called upon to give analysis on bioethics issues on nightly talk shows in Washington, and on July 22, 1997 to testify before the House Committee on Sciences on the topic of human cloning.
He served as an editor of four compendiums of bioethics essays, such as Choosing Life: A Dialogue on Evangelium Vitae.
In 2000, he published Moral Acquaintances: Methodology in Bioethics, his most successful work to date.
Tutor Philadelphia Public School System, 1972-1976. Trustee Loyola College, since 1993. Member LifeGift Educational Advisory Board, 1990-1993.
Member advisory council Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Ministry Office Diocese of Galveston-Houston, 1989-1993. Board directors Savannah Boxing Club, 1991-1993. Member American Philosophical Association, Jesuit Philosophical Association, American Catholic Philosophical Association, American Society Social Philosophers, Society Health and Human Values, European Society for Medicine and Health Care, International Studies in Philosophy and Medicine (board directors since 1990).