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A Seton Hall University alumnus will take the reins as the South Orange school’s 22nd president, the board of regents announced April 2. 

The appointment of Monsignor Joseph Reilly marks the return of a priest-president to Seton Hall, “which has been a hallmark of the University for 146 years of its 168-year history,” according to the announcement. 

Reilly succeeds Katia Passerini. She has served in the interim role since July 2023, after former President Joseph Nyre surprised the university community by abruptly stepping down. 

When Reilly assumes the presidency July 1, Passerini will return to her role as provost and executive vice president. 

According to the board of regents, Reilly was selected after an eight-month search. Led by a subcommittee of the board of regents, input also came from the university community with additional guidance from Washington, D.C.-based executive recruitment firm AGB Search. 

“There is no one better suited to leading the University at this moment — a time when Seton Hall stands at the cusp of extraordinary progress,” Hank D’Alessandro ’85, chair of the board of regents and the presidential search committee, said in a statement. 

A native of Mountainside, Reilly attended Seton Hall Prep. He graduated from SHU in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Newark in 1991.

In 2002, he returned to Seton Hall as rector of the College Seminary at St. Andrew’s Hall. 

According to the university, Reilly served as rector/dean of the university’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology from 2012 to 2022. He was also a member of the university’s board of trustees. Most recently, he served as vice provost of academics and catholic identity for Seton Hall. 

Reilly said he was “profoundly grateful and exceedingly energized” to take on the new role. 

“I cannot wait to engage our community as together we strive to bring new life to the timeless Catholic mission that makes Seton Hall unique among American universities,” he added. 

“In my service with Monsignor Reilly on the Board of Trustees, he impressed me with his abiding faith, keen intellect and genuine care for the entire University,” said Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, chair of the board of trustees and president of the board of regents. “I am confident he will be an outstanding president.” 

Reilly earned Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; a Licentiate in Sacred Theology  from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum in Rome; and a Ph.D. in educational administration from Fordham University.