Francesco Cesareo

Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D. is an American educator and historian. In February 2007, he was selected to become the 16th president of Assumption College, and assumed the presidency on July 1, 2007. Prior to his selection, Dr. Cesareo served as dean of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Prior to this, he served a position as professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Career

Dr. Cesareo, a historian who specializes in the Renaissance and Reformation periods, has published widely on the Catholic Reformation, the history of 15th and 16th century Rome and on the Renaissance papacy. His work has also focused on Renaissance education, church history and Roman Catholic higher education. He has also been a frequent commentator for local and national media on issues regarding Catholic higher education and the Catholic Church in general.

Prior to his 2004 appointment at Duquesne University, Dr. Cesareo was a member of the history department at John Carroll University from 1989 to 2004. In 1997 he was appointed the founding director of the Institute of Catholic Studies, a position he held until 2004. He also was the holder of the John J. and Mary Jane Breen Chair in Catholic Studies. As director of the Institute he successfully raised an endowment of $4.8 million for the work of the Institute.

In addition to being a dedicated teacher, nominated three times for the Distinguished Faculty Award at John Carroll University, and an accomplished scholar of the Catholic intellectual tradition, Dr. Cesareo has served on many boards and received numerous fellowships. He is the author of two books, including his most recent book, "A Shepherd in Their Midst: The Episcopacy of Girolamo Seripando: 1554–1563," and of numerous articles and book reviews. He has also served as a Fulbright Scholar at both the University of Rome and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Italy, and completed a year-long Faculty Fellowship for Academic Leadership supported by the Mandel Foundation.

Additionally, Dr. Cesareo has served as the managing editor of Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, an international scholarly journal published semi-annually by the Jesuit Historical Institute in Rome and the Institute of Catholic Studies at John Carroll University, and completed administrative development programs at Harvard University and Boston College.

Election to college presidency

Dr. Cesareo was among 55 applicants for the presidency. The presidential search process began last September when Dr. Thomas R. Plough, the college’s 15th president, announced that he would retire at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year after nine years in the position.

Educational and personal background

Dr. Cesareo graduated summa cum laude from Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston, New York, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Late Medieval/Early Modern European history from Fordham University.

He and his wife, Filomena, are the parents of three young children.