Keynote Speaker

       

Msgr. Thomas P. Nydegger

Monsignor Thomas P. Nydegger, M.Div., Ed.D. is associate vice president for student affairs at Seton Hall University. Prior to his appointment November 1, 2010, he served for 10 years as an administrator and formator at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology.

He has taken a leadership role in the Division of Student Affairs. The division is charged with assuring support for the holistic development of students, and works to provide Seton Hall students with a dynamic educational environment. At its core is the division’s commitment to the University’s Catholic mission and identity. Guided by the values of the Catholic tradition and the latest technological advances, the division aims to provide students with the opportunity to reach their fullest potential through academic excellence and spiritual and personal growth.

Monsignor Nydegger previously served as vice rector/business manager and director of formation at Immaculate Conception Seminary, where he received his master of divinity degree in 1992. That same year he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Monsignor Nydegger first served as parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Church, in Secaucus, before his assignment in 1995 as Secretary to the Archbishop. In 1997, he was named director of vocations and later served as vice-chancellor/assistant to the vicar general and moderator of the curia. He returned to the seminary as vice rector/business manager in 2000. In 2002 he was given the additional assignment as the seminary's director of formation.

Born in 1966, Monsignor Nydegger was raised in Glen Rock. After his graduation from Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, he attended Fairfield University where he received his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1988.

He earned a doctorate in education from the University’s College of Education and Human Services in December 2008 following successful defense of his dissertation, “The Integration of the Four Pillars of Priestly Formation According to the Fifth Edition of the Program of Priestly Formation.”