James Patrick Shea

James Patrick Shea (born March 27, 1975) is an American Catholic priest of the Diocese of Bismarck who has served as the president of the University of Mary since 2009.

Early life and education James Shea was born on March 27, 1975, to Joseph and Patricia Shea. He and his seven younger siblings all grew up on their parents' farm outside of Hazelton, North Dakota. He graduated from Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock High School in 1993 and then studied history and English at Jamestown College (now the University of Jamestown) for two years before entering seminary in 1995 and transferring to the Catholic University of America. During this time he also taught religion in two inner-city elementary schools and worked at a hospice run by the Missionaries of Charity. He then was sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome and studied theology at both the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Lateran University. During this time, Shea also said Mass in Spanish for the Latino community in Bismarck at the cathedral. Shea then served at Christ the King church in Mandan, North Dakota before becoming pastor of St. Joseph Church in Killdeer and St. Paul Church in Halliday.

President of the University of Mary In December 2008, the University of Mary announced that Shea would succeed Sister Thomas Welder as the sixth president of the Bismarck university. Welder, who had been president of the institution since 1978, stepped down due to health issues. Shea oversaw the addition of the university's Rome study-abroad campus in 2010 and the inauguration of an interdisciplinary Catholic Studies program. In 2012, he announced a public-private partnership between the University of Mary and Arizona State University to bring University of Mary courses to Arizona, as the state had no Catholic colleges or universities. That same year, Benedict XVI named him a Chaplain of His Holiness with the title of "Monsignor."

Shea has spoken at Catholic conferences and other events, including the national SEEK conferences of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, and the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in 2025. He serves on the board of directors of Saint John Vianney Seminary in Denver, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference of the NCAA, and has served as chairman of the Catholic Identity Committee for the Board of Directors of FOCUS as well as on the National Advisory Council to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. For the State of North Dakota, he has served on the Governor’s Commission on Education Improvement and the Attorney General’s Task Force on Human Trafficking. He is also a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a knighthood of the Holy See. In 2026, the Catholic University of America, his alma mater, conferred on him an honorary doctorate in theology and hosted him as the speaker for commencement. The university entitled his address, “Endurance vanquishes mediocrity.”