[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 23235-23236]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING REV. SCOTT R. PILARZ ON HIS INAUGURATION AS THE PRESIDENT OF 
                       THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2003

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the 
House of Representatives to the inauguration of Rev. Scott R. Pilarz as 
the new President of the University of Scranton. I am pleased to be 
joining the entire community of Northeastern Pennsylvania in welcoming 
him to the area this Friday, September 26, 2003.
  Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., Ph.D. has a remarkable background and 
career. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1981 and was ordained a 
priest in 1992. He received his bachelor's degree in English from 
Georgetown University, and a master's degree in philosophy from Fordham 
University and in divinity and theology from the Weston School of 
Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in 
English at the City University of New York, CUNY, and his dissertation 
won the 1997 CUNY Alumni Achievement Prize for Dissertation Excellence.
  As he was completing his studies at Weston, Father Pilarz served as a 
lecturer in the philosophy department of Ss. Peter & Paul Seminary at 
the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. While completing doctoral studies, 
he was appointed to the English faculty of St. Joseph's University in 
1994. In 1996, he joined the Georgetown faculty as an assistant 
professor of English. In 2002, he was appointed interim University 
Chaplain, where he served as a member of the President's Cabinet and 
was responsible for leading campus ministry efforts on Georgetown's 
Main, Medical and Law campuses. He worked with the President to promote 
Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit character, sponsored inter-religious 
dialogue and coordinated interfaith activities on all three of 
Georgetown's campuses.
  He was recognized by the Georgetown Alumni Association in 2002 with 
the William Gaston Award for Outstanding Service and was chosen by the 
graduating class of 1999 to receive the Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Award for 
Faculty Excellence, an award that recognizes outstanding teaching and 
service.
  As a scholar, Father Pilarz has delivered numerous papers at 
scholarly conferences on various aspects of Medieval and Renaissance 
literature. He has also lectured and published on topics related to 
Jesuit education. His articles on John Donne, Robert Southwell and 
Medieval drama have appeared in academic journals and collections of 
essays, and his book, Robert Southwell, S.J., and the Mission of 
Literature 1561-1595: Writing Reconciliation, will be published by 
Ashgate Press.

[[Page 23236]]

  In 1998, he received a grant from the National Endowment for the 
Humanities, and he has received three research grants and a competitive 
junior faculty research leave from Georgetown.
  Father Pilarz serves on the boards of Boston College, Loyola 
University of Chicago, the Community Medical Center, Scranton, and 
Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, N.J., from which he 
graduated. His professional memberships include the John Donne Society, 
the Renaissance Society of America, the Shakespeare Association of 
America, the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society, the Polish 
Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and the Modern Language 
Association.
  Father Pilarz has served as a member of The University of Scranton's 
Board of Trustees since 2000. In April of 2003, The University of 
Scranton's Board of Trustees completed a national search and announced 
the selection of Father Pilarz as the next President.
  Father Pilarz became the twenty-fourth President of The University of 
Scranton on July 1, 2003.
  Mr. Speaker The University of Scranton is, by tradition, choice and 
heartfelt commitment, a Catholic and Jesuit university. Founded in 1888 
as Saint Thomas College by the Most Reverend William G. O'Hara, D.D., 
the first bishop of Scranton, it achieved university status in 1938 and 
was entrusted to the care of the Society of Jesus in 1942.
  On the inauguration of its newest President, I would like to pay 
tribute to the University of Scranton, its administration, trustees, 
faculty, alumni, and students. I would also like to wish Father Pilarz 
the best of luck as he leads this university into the future. Thank 
you.

                          ____________________