Our Leadership

Father Karl Kiser, SJ, was appointed provincial of the USA Midwest Province by Fr. General Arturo Sosa, SJ, effective June 14, 2021. Father Kiser succeeded Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, who was appointed the president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in Washington, DC. 

Father Karl Kiser, SJ, was born May 29, 1962, and raised in Menominee, Michigan. He attended Marinette Catholic Central High School in nearby Marinette, Wisconsin. After earning a BA in political science from Michigan State University in 1986, he entered the former Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus on August 30, 1986, at Loyola House in Berkley, Michigan.

During his regency, Fr. Kiser taught at Colegio Cristo Rey, in Tacna, Peru, and worked with Fe y Alegria in Lima (1990-1993), where he learned to speak Spanish. He studied theology at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1993-1997), Comillas University in Madrid, Spain, and University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1997, at Gesu Parish in University Heights, Ohio.

After ordination, Fr. Kiser was superior of Loyola House, the Jesuit novitiate in Berkley, Michigan (1998-2002), and served at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (U of D Jesuit). He worked in campus ministry for one year (2001-2002) before becoming president of the school (2002-2016). During his 14 years as president, Fr. Kiser was known as an excellent fundraiser, with $16 million for a STEM center addition to the high school (completed after he began his next mission). While at U of D Jesuit, he accompanied several groups of students and medical professionals to Sociedad Amigo de los Niños in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He regularly presided and preached at local parishes including Holy Name Catholic Church in Birmingham, Michigan, and the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Michigan.

From 2016 until his appointment as provincial, Fr. Kiser was the pastor of Gesu Parish in University Heights, Ohio.