Fr. Michael J. Graham, SJ

Retreat Master

Delegate for Higher Education – Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States President of Xavier University from January 2001 through June 2021, Fr. Graham served Xavier as both a faculty member and senior advancement officer prior to becoming president and his passion for the specifically Jesuit mission of Xavier animated his presidency in multiple ways. Since retiring as president, Fr. Graham has deepened his appropriation of Jesuit spirituality and led the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in a variety of ways at a number of midwestern Jesuit retreat houses. For several years, he worked with the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, especially assisting Jesuit university trustees better understand the Jesuit mission and identity of their schools so as to lead them more effectively and in greater fidelity to their origins. Currently, he works with the staff and Provincial Superiors of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in issues regarding higher education. He is active on a variety of boards of Jesuit ministries, including several university boards. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Fr. Graham holds degrees from Cornell College, the University of Michigan and the Weston School of Theology (now, the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry). He entered the Jesuits in 1978 and was ordained in 1988.