Jesuit Father James Salmon, noted Loyola professor, dies at 100

Jesuit Father James F. Salmon, who served three stints as a science and theology professor at what is now Loyola University Maryland, died Aug. 17. Father Salmon, who also served as headmaster at Loyola Blakefield from 1973 to 1976, had turned 100 in July after serving 75 years as a priest.

A private funeral will be held at Manresa Hall in Philadelphia, and Loyola University plans to schedule a memorial service on its Evergreen campus during the fall semester.

His fellow Jesuits noted in an online obituary that Father Salmon will be remembered “as a brilliant scientist, a dedicated teacher and a Jesuit who integrated his love for learning with his devotion to faith.”

The Long Island, N.Y., native attended Xavier High School in New York City, graduating in 1943. Immediately after graduation, he entered the Navy, serving as an engineer through the end of World War II.

After his military service, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. From 1947 to 1950, he worked as an engineer at International Nickel Co. in Bayonne, N.J.

He entered the Society of Jesus Sept. 7, 1950, at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa. He studied philosophy at Weston College in Massachusetts, receiving advanced degrees in philosophy before earning a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961. He went on to theological studies at Woodstock College in Woodstock, Md., where he received a bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1965.

He was ordained a priest June 14, 1964, at Woodstock College. Later, he pursued further studies in chemistry at Ohio State University and for post-doctoral research through a National Science Foundation fellowship.

He began his teaching career as a professor of chemistry at what was then Loyola College in Baltimore (1967-73) before being named president and headmaster of Loyola Blakefield (1973-79). 

After serving in California and at Georgetown University, Father Salmon returned to Loyola College in 1981 for three years as professor of chemistry and theology before moving to Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, where he served as rector and professor of both chemistry and theology (1984-88).

According to a Loyola University online obituary, Father Salmon was inspired by the writings of Jesuit Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest and scientist who said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience … we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” 

Father Salmon founded Loyola’s annual Cosmos and Creation conference in 1981. The series, which explores the intersections of religion and science, began with the vision that working scientists would find it fruitful to share their religious awareness with other scientists.

The conference, which was held at Loyola University for the 43rd time in June, brings together numerous established scientists, theologians, philosophers and renowned scholars. Father Salmon – who co-directed many of the conferences – welcomed the conference members for a weekend of lectures and lively discussions.

Recognizing his progressive and innovative approach to the interdisciplinary study of science and religion, Loyola University presented Father Salmon with the John Henry Newman Medal at its 2015 commencement.

From 1988 to 1998, he served the Jesuits as treasurer of the Maryland Province. After 10 years overseeing the finances of his province, Father Salmon combined administrative service with scholarship. He was a fellow and later senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington, D.C. (1997-2011), while also teaching again at Loyola as professor of chemistry and theology.

In 2011, Father Salmon was missioned to the Colombière Jesuit Community in Baltimore, where he continued to serve in pastoral ministry. In his later years, he continued a ministry of prayer for the church and the Society of Jesus, which he carried out faithfully after moving to the Manresa Hall Jesuit health center in Philadelphia in 2023.

Father Salmon published five books and more than 35 peer-reviewed papers. In addition to his longtime posts at Loyola University Maryland and his time at Wheeling Jesuit University, he has also inspired students at Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown, where he was named a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center. 

He was a founder and member of the board of directors of the National Association for Science, Technology and Society (NASTS), for which he chaired the organization’s religion-ethics section. He served as a consultant to the Committee on Science and Human Values of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB, now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) since 1986, moderating its annual dialogues with distinguished members of the science community.

According to the Loyola obituary, he was known affectionately by some of his peers as “Fish,” and established a reputation as a uniquely student-centered professor with a deep commitment to Jesuit education. 

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