Office of the President & Chancellor of Seton Hall University: Edward J. Fleming records

Msgr. Edward Fleming was a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark and the 14th President of Seton Hall University, from 1969-1970.

Edward J. Fleming was born March 22, 1919 in Montclair, N.J. to Timothy J. and Agnes Gannon Fleming. He had three brothers, Joseph A., Thomas X., and Timothy C., and a sister, Alice J. (later Deisler). He attended Seton Hall Preparatory School, then Seton Hall University, from which he earned his A.B. in 1940. He then attended the Catholic University of America, where he received his S.T.L. in 1944, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark on June 3, 1944. Father Fleming continued to pursue his education, receiving an M.A. in 1948 from Seton Hall University, a Ph. D from St. John’s University, Brooklyn in 1955, and eventually an LL.D. from Seton Hall University in 1970. He also studied at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the North American College in Rome, graduating in 1977, the Harvard Divinity School until 1986, Oxford University, where he was a visiting scholar in 1986, and the Weston Theological Center in Cambridge, Mass., where he was a fellow from 1986-1987. Fr. Fleming was designated a papal chamberlain in 1963 by Pope John XXIII and then elevated to prelate of honor by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

In the 1940s, Fr. Fleming was briefly assigned to St. Teresa’s Church in Summit, N.J., before he became a professor of philosophy and educational psychology at Seton Hall University. He then served as the Dean of Student Affairs from 1951-1953, Dean of University College from 1953-1959, and Executive Vice-President from 1959-1969. In 1969, upon the resignation of Bishop John J. Dougherty, Msgr. Fleming was appointed the President of Seton Hall University.

Msgr. Fleming’s presidency was during a time of great turmoil on the campus, as student protests and demonstrations took place all around the country. On September 8, 1969, he gave an impassioned speech on the importance of upholding basic principles of discipline and Judeao-Christian morality and values in education, which led to a confrontation with student protestors. In 1970, Msgr. Fleming resigned from the presidency, partly due to health concerns, and became the pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in Roseland, N.J. He remained a very active figure on the Archdiocese of Newark.

Msgr. Fleming died on December 25 2008, in Caldwell, N.J.