In the kitchen of his Georgetown apartment in a dormitory for first-year students where he is a chaplain, the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., spoke excitedly about his past and his future move to New Orleans. He only stopped the conversation once to check on the meal he was cooking for a group of students. Perhaps this is proof that, as he said, Wildes truly does find inspiration in the minds of undergraduate students.

Wildes, a native of Pitman, N. J., grew up with a state-policeman father, a homemaker and social-worker mother and two younger brothers. When he went off to college, he chose the Jesuit school of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and the exposure to the Society of Jesus changed his life.

“It opened my eyes, helped me to see things in a very different way, and raised more questions than answers, which was one of the great things I found with it,” Wildes said.

He said that it was not until after he got his undergraduate degree that he considered becoming a priest. Wildes said that he was inspired by the fact that the Jesuits he saw were doing more than teaching theology classes.

“The society fit my personality,” Wildes said. “I liked the fact that Jesuits worked outside of the typical religious context, the fact that they were interested in the intellectual life and that Jesuits are people who are mobile; they wouldn’t always be in the same place doing the same thing.”

Though he considered going into law, Wildes said that his two-year novice period with the Jesuits was influential.

“One of the great things about entering is that you join as a novice and it’s a time of probation to see if you belong there and if you want to belong there,” he said.

Wildes said that he discovered that he did belong there.

“I just found it was a great way of serving people, bringing together faith and service to others; and I was very happy,” he said.

His first experience with teaching came in the early ’80s at Loyola College in Baltimore. Wildes said that he was immediately hooked.

“I absolutely fell in love with teaching; the world of ideas and the mind was a wonderful way to connect with people,” he said.

Wildes said that he finds working in education to be rewarding because his teaching goes beyond the students he has taught.

“This is one way for me to contribute to the larger being of society. You work with people here, and they go off and they affect people elsewhere,” he said.

After being a member of Loyola’s Board of Trustees for six years, Wildes is familiar with the school and is looking forward to becoming a part of the community. On a recent visit, he got an early start by walking around campus and going to the recreational complex for a workout

“My sense from looking at the recent developments is that [Loyola] is strong and wants to be even stronger and I find that exciting,” he said.

He also said that he looks forward to putting plans that have been made to improve Loyola’s academic programs into action.

“It’s a dream about the place and what it could be like academically,” he said, adding that he looks forward to seeing that dream realized in the near future.

Though he is looking forward to his upcoming move to New Orleans, Wildes is sad to be leaving his post as dean and professor and saying goodbye to the friends he has at Georgetown, his home since 1993.

“It’s a bittersweet moment,” he said.

When asked about the infamous heat of New Orleans, Wildes said he is prepared to take it on. After all, he said, he did get his Ph.D. in Houston.

Wildes is prepared to move into the role of administrator but said that he would miss being in the classroom, but maybe not for long. He said that, as other university presidents have sometimes done, he would like to try to teach, perhaps bio ethics, during his presidency.

“My hope is that after I settle in the first semester that I can resume teaching on a limited basis,” he said.

Wildes will take on the role of Loyola president at a time when the university community is wary from the controversies that surrounded the presidencies of both Bernard Knoth and the Rev. William Byron, S.J. However, he is confident that his approach will be right for Loyola.

“I have a style that works off of listening and that’s what I want to do: listen and lead,” Wildes said.

Anna Garvey can be reached at [email protected].