Mission and Ministry Bios
All leadership team members, listed by last name
Kat Brown
Director of Mission and Identity Programs
Kat Brown is an alumna of LMU, where she received her B.A. in Philosophy and Theological Studies ('10) and M.A. in Theology ('16). Before joining Mission and Ministry, she worked in the Academy of Catholic Thought and Imagination and the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, where she engaged the university community in programming related to the Catholic intellectual traditions as well as interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. As Director of Mission and Identity Programs, she accompanies LMU faculty and staff members in growing deeper in their understanding of the university's mission and their own relationship to it.
Her academic interests include theological ethics, especially virtue ethics, and Ignatian spirituality. She and her husband Adam ('11) have also been deeply involved with student life on campus, and spent several years as Resident Ministers in first- and second-year campus residence halls and as chaplains for the Creare student service organization. Kat currently serves as the moderator of Gryphon Circle service organization. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Los Angeles, visiting national parks, finding new craft breweries, and building Legos with her son Dominic (LMUCC '22).
Eva Cruz-Aedo
Senior Administrative Coordinator
Eva (Vajda) Cruz-Aedo, an alumna of LMU, received her B.A. with a major in European Studies and a minor in French. After working in the international divisions of Karsten Manufacturing Corporation and Showscan Entertainment, she returned to work at LMU as the Study Abroad Coordinator for nine years. Later she made the decision to work as Administrator and Events Coordinator for Riviera United Methodist Church which enabled her to focus on raising her two children with her fellow alumna husband Carlos Cruz-Aedo.
Eva is excited to be working for John Sebastian and the Staff of the Division of Mission and Ministry and the Center for Ignatian Spirituality and to be returning to the LMU Community.
José García-Moreno
Director of the Academy of Catholic Thought and Imagination
José Garcia Moreno (1961) was born in Mexico City. He studied at the film school in Prague, FAMU (Filmová a Televizní Fakulta Akademie Múzickych Umení v Praze), and worked as an apprentice at the Studios Bratri V Triku ("Brothers in Trick") where he directed his first professional film under the historical Czech brand founded by Jiri Trnka. He continued his education with a Fulbright Scholarship at the Animation Workshop in the School of Film and TV, UCLA. His work has been exhibited and awarded in film festivals around the world: Annecy, Anima Mundi, Clermont-Ferrand, Guadalajara, Cannes, and others. He has received prizes at La Habana, Toronto, San Francisco, Mexico, Montreal and Japan.
He has been nominated to the Ariel by the Mexican Film Academy and received the prestigious Catherine T and John D MacArthur Foundation Grant / Conaculta.
His animated work is part of the collections of the Colombian National Library, Luis Arango, and of the Federal German Film Catalogue (Katalog Der Filmsammlung / Erwerbungen 20062011. Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut. Preubisicher Kulturbesitz, Ein einzigartiger Fundus fur grundliche Studient des lateinamerikanischen Kino).
He was named in 2010 as one of the "Academic Leaders of the World" by the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores, Monterrey (ITESM) where he coproduced four student short films on the theme of slavery and human trafficking with the support of CAST (Coalition for the Abolition of Slavery and Human Trafficking).
In 2012, he was appointed by the new President of Loyola Marymount University as part of the Strategic Planning Committee and also as the chair of the Strategic Committee for Internationalization. He has also served as the Chair of the Animation Department at Loyola Marymount University.
He has been a fellow and a jury for Mexican National Endowment for the Arts (FONCA/ CONACULTA) and also a jury for the international McLaren-Lambart Award.
In 2013, the National University of México (UNAM) published his observations on narrative techniques and visual storytelling.
In 2018, he received the Kennedy Center Theater Festival award for "Meritorious Animation for a Theater Play".
His body of work has an entry in the influential book "Animation, A World History" by Giannalberto Bendazzi.
Robert A. Hurteau
Director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality
Robert.Hurteau@lmu.edu
Robert A. Hurteau, Ph.D. is director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality and a former missionary who has continued right on since with a multitude of service-oriented roles in pastoral and theological fields with a keen focus on diversity.
Since becoming director in 2005, Dr. Hurteau has greatly expanded offerings in Hispanic theology and ministry, and worked in partnership with the Los Angeles African American Catholic Center for Evangelization to bring into existence a program in African American Ministry. He has been heavily involved in constructive dialogue between various religions and peoples, standing firmly in partnership with the Los Angeles Hindu-Catholic Dialogue, the Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue, and local initiatives for Jewish-Catholic relations.
Dr. Hurteau is a member (and past president) of the Association of Professors of Mission, and a volunteer with its sister organization, the American Society of Missiology, currently serving on its board of publications. He is currently a board member and president of the Federation of Pastoral Institutes (La Federación de Institutos Pastorales), and a member of the California Catholic Conference (CCC) education committee.
Dr. Hurteau authored "A Worldwide Heart: The Life of Maryknoll Father John J. Considine" (Orbis 2013), a biography on Maryknoll missionary John Considine that offers a look into the U.S. Catholic missionary movement in the twentieth century.
Christine Nangle Koehl
Associate Director of Internal Communications, Mission and Minstry
Christine.Nangle@lmu.edu
Christine Nangle Koehl ’01 earned her B.A. in communications studies with a business minor, then went on earn an M.A. in journalism at USC.
Her first position was as a news reporter for CBS in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska, and later accepted a position as a public information officer for the Alaskan National Guard. After missing LMU and the California sun for several years, she returned to work at LMU in Marketing, Communications and External Relations. Realizing she had a real passion for working with students led Koehl to move to Campus Ministry, where she ran the student retreat programs such as Kairos and First Year Retreat.
After 10 years in Campus Ministry, earning an M.A. in theology at LMU, and getting married and having two children, Christine’s role eventually transitioned back to MarComm in her current position that allows her to combine her love for ministry and aptitude for communications.
Dorian Llywelyn, S.J.
Director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality
Fr Dorian Llywelyn SJ is a native of Wales (and the first Welsh Jesuit since 1679). He holds degrees in English and theology from universities in the UK, Spain, and the US. Following 13 years as a member of LMU's Dept. of Theological Studies (where he also was Director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute and the minor in Catholic Studies), he then became Executive Director of the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education at Santa Clara and university Mission Officer. He has lived and worked in nine countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and is fluent in a number of languages.
Wayne Negrete, S.J.
LMU Loyola Law School Chaplain
Fr. Wayne Negrete, S.J., is the Chaplain at LMU Loyola Law School Campus Ministry. He serves the pastoral and spiritual needs of the entire LMU Loyola Law School Community while collaborating with other university departments. He also accompanies members of the community in the experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, in ongoing spiritual direction, and in the supervision of spiritual directors.
Fr. Wayne has a B.A. in political science from LMU, 1980. He has an M.Div. and a Th.M. from Weston School of Theology, 1990 and 1991. He also has a Certificate in the Art of Spiritual Direction from the Center for Spiritual Development, 2002, and Certificates I & II in Dream Tending from Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, 2008 & 2016.
Marissa Papula
Marissa Papula gathers words, ideas, and people interested in making transcendent meaning out of our lived experiences. She first encountered Jesuit education during her own undergraduate years at the University of Scranton, where she was taught to notice the ineffable in the everyday, and harness the potential of good theology to liberate and transform lives, connections, and communities. She continued her studies at Boston College, where she earned both a Master of Arts in Theology and Ministry and a Post Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Formation. Marissa spent five years at the helm of the award-winning Boston College Kairos before making her way to California to accompany LMU students, and to serve and support the formative programming that invites Lions to “belong, believe, and become.”
Beyond her ministry, Marissa speaks, writes, and teaches about spirituality, community, social justice, and the interplay between the secular and the sacred. Her academic and pastoral interests include Ignatian spirituality, theological anthropology, feminist theology, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ ministry. A native of the Hudson Valley in New York, she is sustained by coffee, hot yoga, Mary Oliver poetry, Brian Doyle prose, and her three little godsons in New York, Boston, and Boise.
Marc Reeves, S.J.
Associate Vice President of Mission and Ministry
Fr. Marc has been a member of the LMU community since 2009. He is a native of Los Angeles and a proud alumnus of LMU. Before joining the Center for Mission and Identity in 2018, he served as Associate Director of Campus Ministry and as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theological Studies.
He completed a D.Min. at the Catholic Theological Union at Chicago in the area of Liturgical Theology and has been involved in the formation of lay ecclesial ministers for the growth and advancement of the church in the twenty-first century. He also currently serves as the Director of the Catholic Studies Program and teaches in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts.
Randy Roche, S.J.
University Chaplain
Father Randy Roche served as Director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality for over 20 years. He has an M.A. in Theology from Santa Clara University, and an M.S. in Counseling from San Diego State. He has served as LMU Director of Campus Ministry, Rector of the Jesuit Community at Jesuit High School in Sacramento, Director of Studies and Spiritual Director at the Jesuit Novitiate, and as Pastor, Superior, and Director of Diocesan Campus Ministry at the Newman Center in Honolulu.
Throughout his years of ministry, he has continuously deepened his own experience of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, while also acting as a guide in the Exercises for lay people and religious. His specialty is Ignatian spirituality as a tool for discernment in decision-making.
Judith Royer, C.S.J.
Director of the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice
Judith Royer, CSJ, Ph.D. is currently director for the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice and professor emerita of Theatre at LMU. The CSJ Center works to build bridges for justice and repair broken human relationships, in imitation of St. Joseph, patron saint of the CSJ Community.
For the CSJ Center, Sr. Judith has worked in the areas of the arts as social transformation, engaged learning projects, restorative justice programs and social justice events all of which strive to “educate, heal and liberate both ourselves and the dear neighbor” (CSJ Directional Statement, 2001).
As a professional artist and teacher at LMU she was producer/director for the Playwrights Center Stage new plays series; worked as producer, director and dramaturg with new play development programs sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Playwrights Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, Southern Repertory Theatre, Theatre Gallery in Los Angeles, of which she was founder and former artistic director. She has co-produced and directed a series of Oral Histories/Documentary Theatre projects with seniors, cancer survivors, veterans, at risk youth, the unhoused, victims of domestic violence, survivors of trafficking, lifer parolees and other community-based groups.
Sr. Judith was a founding member of the Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE); former chair of that organizations Playwrights Program and New Plays Production Coordinator; Past-Chair for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s Region VIII Playwriting Program and member of that organization’s governing board; recipient of the 2008 ATHE Outstanding Teacher of Theatre in Higher Education, Kennedy Center Gold Medallion for contributions to new plays and playwrights and the 2012 Milan Stitt Award for her work as a playwriting mentor and teacher.
John T. Sebastian, Ph.D.
Vice President for Mission and Ministry
Chief Mission Officer
John T. Sebastian, Ph.D., has served as the Vice President for Mission and Ministry at LMU since 2017. He is also a tenured professor of English and a lecturer in the higher education administration program in LMU’s School of Education.
Dr. Sebastian leads a diverse team that animates LMU’s mission by supporting liturgical and sacramental life; fostering the formation and spiritual growth of students, faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni; promoting the distinctive elements and the shared characteristics of the charisms of the university’s three sponsoring religious congregations; coordinating advocacy and action on behalf of social justice; developing ministers, educators, and pastoral leaders for the local Church; and building communities of scholars who animate the Catholic intellectual tradition. Under Dr. Sebastian’s leadership, Mission and Ministry has established interfaith dialogue and understanding as vital to the LMU’s commitment to the service of faith and promotion of justice and has collaborated closely with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in advancing anti-racist initiatives grounded in Catholic social teaching.
Dr. Sebastian joined LMU from Loyola University New Orleans, where he was also vice president for mission and ministry in addition to serving at various times as the inaugural director of the Common Curriculum, director of the Medieval Studies Program, and deputy director of the University Honors Program. He was also the founding director of Loyola’s Ignatian Faculty Fellows Program. He began his academic career on Loyola’s faculty and earned the Loyola Faculty Senate’s recognitions for excellence in advising, teaching, and service.
Dr. Sebastian received the Ph.D. in medieval studies in 2004 from Cornell University. He also holds a master’s degree in medieval studies from Cornell University, an M.A. in English from Georgetown University, and a bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) in English and medieval studies from Georgetown and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Sigma Nu (the Jesuit honors society). Dr. Sebastian was in the initial cohort of the Ignatian Colleagues Program and earned a certificate for graduate-level coursework from the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College. He is an expert on Middle English literature, especially religious drama. He has taught courses on Old English literature, Chaucer, medieval women writers, and Old Norse literature and the Vikings as well as on Jesuit and Catholic education, and he has published widely on medieval literature and Jesuit higher education. He is the editor or co-editor of several volumes, including the Broadview Anthology of Medieval Drama (Broadview Press, 2012) and A Cultural History of Tragedy in the Middle Ages (Bloomsbury, 2021). His essay “Encountering Grace: A Theological Framework for Faculty and Staff Immersion Programs” was published by Jesuit Higher Education in 2021.