WASHINGTON—Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) named two new members to the National Review Board and reappointed its chairman for the next four-year term, 2016-2020, beginning in June.
The new members are Ernest Stark, a long time Catholic school educator and administrator, and Garry Hall, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, and CEO and president of the Association of the United States Navy. Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D., president of Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts, was reappointed as chairman of the board.
Ernest Stark currently serves as chair of the review boards for several religious communities including the Augustinians, Carmelites, Passionists, and Benedictines and is a member of the review board of the De La Salle Christian Brothers. He has served as a teacher and administrator in Catholic secondary schools and colleges for fifty years. He was a member of the review board of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, for ten years, serving as chair for eight of those years. He holds a master’s degree in education from St. Mary’s University, Minnesota, and a master’s degree in theology from Manhattan College, New York. He has pursued additional studies at Northern Illinois University, and he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for summer study at the University of Notre Dame.
Garry E. Hall is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who currently chairs the review board of the Archdiocese of the Military Service and is an active member of the Knights of Columbus. He is also the CEO and president of the Association of the United States Navy, in Washington. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, and an MBA from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He was designated a naval aviator and served 35 years on active duty. Operating in helicopter squadrons throughout the Pacific, he commanded two squadrons, the capital ship USS Tarawa, an expeditionary strike group, and was commandant of the Eisenhower College of National Security and Resource Strategy at National Defense University. He spent his entire Navy career operating in and managing risk.
Cesareo is president of Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts. He holds a doctorate in Late Medieval/Early Modern European History from Fordham University. He also was a Fulbright Scholar and studied at the University of Rome and Gregorian University in Rome. He has been president of Assumption College since 2007, and has held both faculty and administrative positions at several Catholic colleges and universities, including Duquesne University, Pittsburgh; John Carroll University, Cleveland; Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, Connecticut; and St. John’s University, Jamaica, New York. He serves on several boards including the Board of Visitors of Worcester Academy, the New England Center for Children, and the Adopt a Student Committee for the Diocese of Worcester. He also served on the Seminary Advisory Board for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He became a member of the National Review Board in 2012 and was appointed chairman in 2013.
The USCCB established the National Review Board in 2002 as a consultative body of lay individuals tasked with reviewing the annual report of the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection on the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. It is part of the church’s ongoing efforts to prevent and combat clergy sexual abuse of minors.