A Brief History
The Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership was founded in 1976 at the University of San Francisco through the collaborative efforts of the Dean of the School of Education, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Archdiocese of San Francisco, Dr. Michael O'Neill, Catholic school scholar and author, and former superintendent. O'Neill was appointed the first director, and he introduced ICEL to the Catholic school community by hosting a national symposium on the newly published book, Catholic Schools in a Declining Church, by Greeley, McCreedy and McCourt. An off-campus program in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was part of the original design.

In 1978, Edwin J. McDermott, S.J., was appointed Director. The doctoral program became a major part of ICEL's research thrust. Mary Peter Traviss, O.P., was named the third director in 1989 and in 1991 WASC approved an off-campus program in Hawaii. The California State Credential program was added in Los Angeles. It was followed by an M.A. in Catholic School Teaching. In 2004, the fourth director, Br. Ray Vercruysse, C.F.C, took the reins of the Institute.

ICEL celebrated its 20th anniversary in July 1996, with a symposium on Catholic School Research: From the Ivory Tower to the Catholic School Classroom. The same year it moved from its office at Lone Mountain to the new School of Education at 2350 Turk Street.

ICEL celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a gala year of events and activities. ICEL hosted a Research Summit, a "think tank" of 12 prominent researchers to determine what has been useful in Catholic school research and what remains to be done. The following scholars accepted ICEL's invitation to attend: John Convey, Vin Duminuco, S.J., Mike Guerra, Peter Holland, Tom Hunt, Remegia Kushner, CSJ. Joe O'Keeffe, S.J., Bruno Manno, Lourdes Sheehan, RSM, and Jerry Starratt. Ed McDermott, S.J., Gini Shimabukuro, and Mary Peter Traviss, O.P., joined the group. Sister Jeanne Hagelskamp, S.P. acted as director of communications for the Summit.

The anniversary year "kicked off" with a liturgy and social on June 21, 2000 and every event scheduled for the summer, including the Phi Delta Kappa initiation, saluted ICEL on its 25th anniversary. The six part Speakers series got off to a heady start with a lecture on John Henry Newman by Mary Peter Traviss, O.P. (July 6) and by Msgr. Milton Walsh on Roland Knox (July 18).

During the fall semester Robert Bimonte spoke in Salt Lake City, Utah; Dr. GIni Shimabukro was the featured speaker in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Dr. Elinoe Ford spoke to the Catholic school teachers in Los Angeles. During the spring semester, Father Andrew Greeley brought the series to a close in Presentation Theatre, University of San Francisco.

In February 2001, Father Ted Ross, S.J., was the guest lecturer at a special Symposium and Tea to honor John Henry Newman. Open to the public, the afternoon was a gracious affair and an opportunity for non-university personnel to help celebrate ICEL's anniversary.

In 2003 ICEL presented Margaret Wheatly as the keynote speaker for a conference entitled Relationships: A Focus of Catholic Education for the New Century, the purpose of the conference was to bring together Catholic schools to contribute to the change in the way the people of the world relate to one another.

During this same summer ICEL introduced a new format with a five-day conference, largely for non-matriculating students on Growing and Developing: The Catholic Secondary School Presiding.

In 2004, the format for the five-day conference was repeated in another conference on staff development, Leading Schools that Learn: Tools and Templates for Elementary School Leaders. The President's conference was repeated at Saint Louis University and co-sponsored by ICEL.

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