Dallavis Appointed to Direct ACE’s Initiatives for Catholic School Leadership

Dr. Christian Dallavis has been appointed to the new position of Senior Director of Leadership Programs, for the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE).

Dallavis, who has directed the Notre Dame ACE Academies initiative since its inception in 2010, will assume leadership of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program (RLP) and a new Center for Transformative Educational Leadership (CTEL). He will also continue to oversee the ongoing development of the Notre Dame ACE Academies, a program that has recently published important data about its expanding impact.

“Christian has a compelling vision to forge deeper connections among these related programs,” said Rev. Timothy Scully, C.S.C., co-founder of ACE and director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives at Notre Dame. “During more than a decade of service with ACE, Christian has contributed in so many ways to our growing initiatives.”

Dallavis welcomes this opportunity: “Since joining ACE as a teacher in 1997, I have discovered that my vocation is to play a role in providing a Catholic education of the highest quality to as many students as possible. I am excited about this opportunity to contribute to the transformation of schools through leadership formation, and I believe that combining the efforts of the Remick Leadership Program, ND ACE Academies, and the new Center for Transformational Educational Leadership will result in powerful synergies for the good of our mission.”

Dallavis’ ACE experience began in the fourth cohort of the ACE teacher formation program, during which he served as a middle and high school teacher in Biloxi, Miss. After earning his M.A. degree, he spent a year teaching with the Congregation of Holy Cross in Bangladesh and then returned to ACE as a member of the pastoral team for the formation program, now called ACE Teaching Fellows.

Doctoral studies in English and Education at the University of Michigan followed, and he then returned to Notre Dame to teach and supervise ACE formation program participants. He was named director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies when the initiative was established in 2010. In this role, Dallavis works closely with diocesan school superintendents and principals to lead transformations of at-risk schools into communities of growth and academic progress.

He will succeed Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, Ph.D., who has served as Senior Director of the Remick Leadership Program, forming principals and other leaders for Catholic schools since its founding in 2002. Dallavis will also oversee the launch and initiatives of ACE’s Center for Transformative Educational Leadership, which will equip school leaders with the skills they need to transform school culture and improve student learning.

Father Scully, in announcing the appointment of Dallavis, offered special thanks to Father Nuzzi for his role in the growth of the Remick Leadership Program. “His passion for Catholic schools is unsurpassed, and we are fortunate indeed to have him directing his energies to ACE’s Renewing Identity Strengthening Evangelization (RISE) initiative.” Father Nuzzi will lead the new ACE RISE program to make a signature contribution to the Catholic character of schools across the nation.