Dr. Michael Carey came to Gonzaga University in 1987 to teach in and direct the newly created Organizational Leadership graduate program. In 2004, he was instrumental in making the master’s degree available to distance students through online and hybrid courses.
Before coming to Gonzaga University in 1987, Dr. Carey served as a teacher, campus minister, and vice principal at Catholic secondary schools in Los Angeles and Spokane over a period of thirteen years. He received his B.A. degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, and both his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in educational leadership from Gonzaga University. Dr. Carey’s master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation were both on the topic of the mission preparation of lay administrators in the Jesuit secondary schools in the United States, and his dissertation was published by Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus. He has also published articles and books on the topics of transforming leadership and servant-leadership, and has served as a consultant for a variety of organizations.
Hired in 1987 to direct the newly created Organizational Leadership graduate program at Gonzaga, Dr. Carey made use of his background in Jesuit education by taking responsibility for the mission orientation of all new faculty and staff at the University for eight years and, with Fr. Pat O’Leary, S.J., he co-founded the Council for Partnership in Mission at Gonzaga in 1989. Dr. Carey has published articles and delivered major presentations to the University community on the Jesuit, Catholic, and Humanistic character of Gonzaga University and on the dynamics of lay-Jesuit collaboration in the Ignatian vision of education; he has experienced the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and has been a director of the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL) for faculty and staff at Gonzaga University; he has made a pilgrimage to Pamplona, Loyola, Montserrat, Manresa, Barcelona, and Rome to visit the key sites related to Ignatius of Loyola’s own transformation experience and his development of the Spiritual Exercises; and he developed the original proposal for Jesuit Commons, which links Jesuit educational resources throughout the world with Jesuit social apostolates. Dr. Carey was instrumental in the development of a successful online version of the M.A. in Organizational Leadership program at Gonzaga, working to replicate the experience of Ignatian pedagogy that has defined the learning of campus-based Organizational Leadership students.
Dr. Carey has served in a variety of formal administrative roles during his 32-year tenure at Gonzaga: seven years as the first Director of the Organizational Leadership program; five years as the first Coordinator of the Council for Partnership in Mission; two years as Executive Assistant to the President; four years as the first Director of Distributive Learning for the School of Leadership Studies; four years as Chairperson of the Department of Organizational Leadership; multiple years on the University’s Graduate Council, Academic Council, Graduate Committee of the Academic Council, and Strategic Planning Committee; one year as the chairperson of the ad-hoc Committee on Racial Equality and Cultural Understanding that responded to specific incidents of racial harassment at the University; three years as Vice President and then President of the Faculty Assembly; five years as a member of the Faculty Senate; and one year as the chairperson of the Mission and Community Committee of the Faculty Senate. After serving two years as Interim Dean of the School of Leadership Studies, in 2012 he was appointed the first Dean of the newly created Virtual Campus at Gonzaga University, and served in that position for five years.
Dr. Carey and his wife have been married for 45 years, and have five daughters, all alumnae of Gonzaga Preparatory School and Gonzaga University.
Current research centers on servant-leadership, transforming leadership, leadership formation, and Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy
