Fr. James P. Shannon Presidential Records

James P. Shannon was born on February 16, 1921 in South St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended St. Thomas Military Academy, graduating 1938.  Completing his college coursework in just three years, Shannon received a bachelor’s degree in classics from the College of St. Thomas in 1941.

Shannon attended Saint Paul Seminary and was ordained into the priesthood on June 8, 1946. His first assignment was as assistant pastor to Cathedral parish in St. Paul.  In 1948, he was appointed Associate Professor of Greek and English at Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary where he taught until 1950.  Shannon received a master's degree in English from the University of Minnesota in 1951 and completed a Ph.D. in American Studies at Yale University in 1955. His dissertation, Catholic Colonization on the Western Frontier, was published by Yale University Press in 1957.

Shannon was appointed Assistant Professor of History at the College of St. Thomas in 1954.  Only two years later, the college’s Board of Trustees named him President of the College of St. Thomas and St. Thomas Military Academy.  During his tenure as president, the college grew physically, with the construction of a new library, a student union and a residence hall.  The “Program for Great Teaching” development campaign allowed the school to increase its endowment as well as improve its academic programs and reputation. He served as president of St. Thomas Academy until 1965, when the academy moved from the College of St. Thomas campus to a site in Mendota Heights.

Shannon was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul in 1965. The press of duties from this position compelled him to resign as president of St. Thomas in 1966. He then was named pastor of the Church of St. Helena in Minneapolis where he served until November 1968.

From 1956 - 1968, Shannon participated in many religious and educational organizations including the National Catholic Educational Association, the Association of American Colleges and the Minnesota Private College Council.  Shannon was a very visible member of the clergy, speaking out against the war in Vietnam and appearing with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, AL.  He was also a delegate from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the Second Vatican Council.

Shannon took a leave of absence from his position as bishop in 1968, accepting a position on the faculty of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM.  Shannon resigned from his bishopric in late 1968. He was offered the position as Vice President at St. John’s College and continued in the position until 1970 when it evolved into the position of Provost.  He entered the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1970, graduated in 1973, and practiced law in Santa Fe until 1974.

Shannon married Ruth Wilkinson in August 1969, which resulted in his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.  A new code of Canon Law, enacted in 1983, abolished this penalty and allowed him to remain a Roman Catholic while "suspending" him from his apostolic role as a priest.

Shannon became Executive Director of the Minneapolis Foundation in 1974, remaining with this organization until 1978.  In 1980 Shannon accepted a position as Associate Director of the General Mills Foundation and was quickly promoted to Vice-President and Executive Director of the Foundation, a position he held until 1988.

James Patrick Shannon passed away August 28, 2003 in Wayzata, MN.