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Contact: Patrick R. Brannigan or For Release
William F. Bolan Jr., JD July 25, 2006
609-989-1120
Brannigan Named Executive Director
of
Patrick R. Brannigan of Pennington, NJ has been named executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference, it was announced today by The Most Reverend John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark and President of the Conference.
Brannigan succeeds William F. Bolan Jr., who recently announced his retirement as executive director of after some 22 years of service to the organization.
As executive director, Brannigan will be responsible for the overall management, supervision and administration of the Conference’s Trenton office and staff. He also will provide advice to the bishops of New Jersey on legislation and other matters of statewide concern, and serve as chief spokesperson for the organization on significant issues of public policy such as respect for the dignity of human life, affordable housing, immigration and education.
Brannigan brings some 40 years of experience in higher education and state government administration to this position, serving in legislative development and analysis, administrative, and policy analysis posts at, among others, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the NJ Departments of Civil Service and Community Affairs, Public Advocate, Division of Motor Vehicles, and Public Service Institute. Most recently, he served as deputy chief of Management and Operations for the Office of the Governor of the State of New Jersey. In this position, he served as liaison for the Governor to the NJ Catholic Conference.
Brannigan is
active in community affairs, and has served on the boards of Hopewell Valley
Regional School District, Pennington Recreation Commission, Leadership New
Jersey, the Hispanic Leadership Opportunity Advisory Board, and Newark Fighting
Back. He also has served as an adjunct
faculty member at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University,
Fairleigh Dickinson University and Kean University. He is active in the American Society for
Public Administration (ASPA), and has chaired ASPA’s national committees on
Professional Standards and Ethics and Policy Issues. He is co-author with Thomas J. Davy of Ethics
in Public Service: A Learning Workbook.
In commenting on his appointment, Archbishop Myers stated: “Pat Brannigan has a wide range of experience and expertise in dealing with the reins of government and in shaping legislation. We believe he will serve the Conference and the New Jersey bishops well as we seek to maintain a strong, solid voice in the shaping of laws and policies that deal ethically, fairly and justly with everyone in our society.”
Regarding Bolan’s
announcement of retirement from the Conference leadership position, Archbishop
Myers stated: “Not only
during my five years as Archbishop of Newark and head of the Catholic
Conference, but for the more than two decades that Bill has guided and
supported the bishops of the New Jersey in our efforts to add a moral
perspective to the task of creating legislation, the Church has benefited
greatly from his energies and talents.”
Brannigan and his wife, Mary
Ann, have three daughters and three grandchildren. A life-long Catholic and former seminarian,
he serves as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist at his parish, St.
James in
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