Rev. Edwin D. Leahy, O.S.B.

Birthdate: December 2, 1945
NJ Town Affiliation: Newark

No one has impacted generations upon generations of young people from in and around Newark, New Jersey, like Rev. Edwin Leahy, O.S.B., the indefatigable Headmaster of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School. Known to students, alumni and communities across the state as Fr. Ed, the outspoken Benedictine monk and Catholic priest has led St. Benedict’s since its reimagining in December 1972.

Fr. Ed was among the small community of Monks who remained at Newark Abbey when the venerated all-boys Catholic school, established in 1868, closed in June 1972 – five years after massive social unrest of 1967 devastated Newark. By July 2, 1973, a new educational venture opened its doors, with Fr. Ed at the helm. Students went to school in the summer. The curriculum was hands-on; daily Convocation was held to foster community and connection. This new school, enrolling mostly Black students, was not called St. Benedict’s Prep – until the Black father of a student asked, “Why not?” That challenge sparked the true resurrection of Benedict’s: a prep school serving students representing the diverse racial, socioeconomic and faith backgrounds of the city. Citing the wisdom of Bill W. of Alcoholics Anonymous, Fr. Ed said, “We took the cotton out of our ears, put it in our mouths and listened to what the community needed. Once we did that, the people of this city taught us how we could best accompany them.”

Leading by listening drove the growth of St. Benedict’s. Today, the school serves nearly 1,000 students in K-12, offering Elementary, Middle and single-sex Boys and Girls Prep Divisions. Its emphasis on community, student leadership, mental wellness and experiential education has propelled St. Benedict’s into a national model of education featured on “60 Minutes.” St. Benedict’s graduates, many of whom are first-generation college students, complete academic degrees at significantly higher rates than the national average, and alumni have forged thriving careers in medicine, law, business, technology, education, media, and entertainment. Schools throughout the U.S. now work to adapt the Benedict’s model into their own schools through the Fr. Mark Payne Institute.

Fr. Ed’s greatest source of pride, however, is when alumni — many of whom grew up with absent fathers — introduce him to their own children. “Many of our kids couldn’t introduce me to their fathers when they were students. When I meet the children of Gray Bees, that’s the real benchmark of success.”

A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Fr. Ed graduated from St. Benedict’s in 1963. Notably, he was denied admission to the school when he first applied in 1959, which is how he became a big proponent of second chances. A graduate of Seton Hall University and the Woodstock College at Union, he holds honorary doctorates from Rutgers University, Saint Peter’s University, New Jersey Institute of Technology and St. John’s University, Minnesota. Fr. Ed is the recipient of the first Robert F. Kennedy Award for Urban School Leadership from the National Schools that Can organization.