Jack P. Calareso, Ph.D., began his tenure as the seventh president of St. Joseph’s College on July 1, 2014. He brings to this position a wealth of experience in higher education, and Catholic higher education in particular.
From 2007 to 2014, Dr. Calareso was the president of Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts. Prior to that, he served as the president of Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio, and Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.
Dr. Calareso has earned a national reputation for his knowledge in liberal arts education, teaching and administration. He is also a renowned speaker at international, national, regional and local conferences and workshops, as well as the author of numerous books and articles. A strong fundraiser, Dr. Calareso has successfully planned and led a number of major fundraising campaigns resulting in significant capital improvements, growth of endowments, scholarship programs, endowed chairs and special projects.
A Boston native, Dr. Calareso began his career in education as a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher and director of religious education in Rochester, New York. He also served as both a teacher and a school administrator in Madison, Wisconsin, and in 1982 was named director of catholic education and superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Green Bay.
In 1989, he accepted a faculty position as associate professor of educational administration at the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York. By the time he left seven years later, he had been promoted, tenured, named dean of the School of Education, and finally appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs. In 1996, he accepted the position of vice president for academic affairs at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. At both St. Rose and Merrimack, he was instrumental in the development of new academic programs, increases in enrollment and the initiation of community partnerships.
Dr. Calareso received a Ph.D. from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned a master’s degree from St. Bernard’s School of Theology in Rochester, New York, and an undergraduate degree from Boston College.
Born and raised in Kansas, Rose Calareso earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mundelein College in Chicago. She spent her junior year abroad at Loyola University-Rome Center, where she and Jack first met as students in a medieval literature class. Married soon after graduation, Rose and Jack celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary in 2014. They are the proud parents of three grown children — Jack Jr., Anne Marie and Jeff — and the devoted grandparents of Josie, Dominic, Paxton and Rivers.
Mrs. Calareso’s life has been focused on her family and on her own career as an educator. She holds a master’s degree in education from the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York, and has achieved professional licensure as a teacher in Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, New York and Massachusetts, as her family moved with her husband’s academic career. Mrs. Calareso began her teaching career 30 years ago and has been an elementary classroom teacher at various grade levels. She served as the curriculum library supervisor at the College of St. Rose for several years, and that position led her to pursue the necessary graduate studies to become certified as a library media specialist. For the past 16 years, Mrs. Calareso has been employed as an elementary school librarian. She retired from her most recent position at the Josiah Haynes Elementary School in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in June 2014.
Mrs. Calareso is honored to assume her role as the first “first lady” of St. Joseph’s College. She brings a wealth of experience to this position from her husband’s previous presidencies. Her duties as first lady have included everything from serving midnight breakfasts to students studying for exams, to hosting visiting dignitaries. Alumni visits, attending student activities and participating in community service have all been a part of her life as a presidential spouse these past 15 years. Mrs. Calareso is looking forward to many new opportunities to serve the SJC community.
