Meet Newest MTSM Staff Members
The story below was originally published in The Athenaeum, MTSM’s bi-annual magazine. The Athenaeum is published twice a year for alumni, patrons and friends of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology. To be added to the mailing list, contact: Heidi Walsh at 513.233.6159 or hwalsh@athenaeum.edu.
Recently, MTSM has welcomed a pair of new staff members to the Administrative Office to help continue to advance the mission of the organization. In November, Tom Kennedy joined as VP of Finance and Administration, while MTSM welcomed Chris Schulkens as Director of Technology in February.
Tom Kennedy, MTSM VP of Finance & Administration
Kennedy joined MTSM after serving as Director of Finance at Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, Kentucky. However, he has a versatile background that is valuable to his new position.
“I was a computer science major with a math minor from Thomas More,” Kennedy noted. “So I started my career in technology and programming before I got the ‘entrepreneurial bug’, got my real estate license and sold real estate for awhile.”
A background in starting his own business helped give Kennedy experience that is important to a position that oversees many areas of MTSM, including technology, human resources, accounting, maintenance and food services.
“When you own your own business, you wear a lot of hats,” Kennedy noted. “That includes finance, human resources and sales. Combine that with my background in technology, and I believe that is what has helped make me a good fit for the Seminary.”
Also based in the Cincinnati area for many years, Schulkens can trace his background in technology to his family.
Chris Schulkens, MTSM Director of Technology
“I got into IT (information technology) through my dad,” Schulkens recalled. “He is a network engineer and I would travel with him from site-to-site and I picked up a lot. That was probably not what I always wanted to do, but it made a lot of sense.”
After graduating from Northern Kentucky with a degree in computer information technology and a minor in business, Schulkens began a career at the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati, moving up to an IT Operations Manager position across 11 years there.
“I got to the point in my career where I was ready for a change and something that was more aligned with my values as a Catholic,” Schulkens noted. “When I saw this opening and I got to meet the people here, it made sense to me.”