UNIVERSITY NEWS | Associate Chancellor Albert Koppes, O.Carm., has announced his retirement from Loyola Marymount University. Father Koppes, whose influence has been felt in nearly every department at LMU, will retire as of Dec. 31, 2018, after 43 years with the university.
“Father Koppes has been one of the pillars of the modern Loyola Marymount University for the last 43 years,” said Lane Bove, senior vice president for student affairs. “He was committed to excellence, integrity and graciousness. On a personal note, Father Koppes has been very significant in my life. He was my professor, my boss, my colleague, my mentor, and best of all my friend. He will be missed.”
Father Koppes, 85, has been a trusted adviser to six LMU presidents, served as academic vice president from 1982-90 – when he hired dozens of faculty members who are still among the university’s finest educators – and served as the first dean of the School of Education. For the past 11 years he has served as associate chancellor in University Advancement.
“God’s grace put so many good people in my life and career at LMU,” said Father Koppes. “The variety of positions I’ve had allowed me the privilege, notably in the School of Education, to work with many remarkable people. I’m especially proud of the accomplishments of PLACE Corps, which has had great influence on Catholic education in Los Angeles and deepened our relationship with the archdiocese. That a devoted Carmelite worked so well with the Jesuits is a very good thing.”
With Father Koppes’ guidance, wit and sometimes firm hand, LMU grew academically and physically, and deepened its commitment to Catholic education. He founded PLACE Corps – Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education – housed within the Center for Catholic Education in SOE, which has become a nationally recognized Catholic teacher service corps and a model for other universities’ programs. Father Koppes has also been very involved in caring for the veterans at LMU, raising money for scholarships, working with Senior Vice President Bove and Student Affairs on the annual Veterans Day luncheon, and spearheading the installation of the veterans memorial to LMU soldiers who were killed in action before they could graduate. The memorial stands at the foot of LeVecke Bridge, outside University Hall.
Among the scores of committees Father Koppes has served on are the LMU Heritage Association of Retired Faculty and Staff, organized to maintain connections to those who have retired and still love LMU, and the Faculty Hall of Fame, which honors those educators who have left a lasting impact on LMU. Father Koppes received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2008, and he was selected for the Faculty Hall of Fame in 2017.
Father Koppes was born in Prescott, Arizona, and raised in the Chicago area. He joined the Order of the Carmelites in 1947, when he was 13 years old, and was ordained at 26. Father Koppes came to Southern California in 1960 and his first assignment was at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino. He served as a mathematics, science, Latin, and religion instructor from 1960 until he became principal in 1966. He remained as principal until he began his doctoral studies full time at USC in 1971, a source of inner conflict, Father Koppes has said, because he had earlier earned a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. He arrived at LMU in 1975 as an assistant professor of education and assistant director of secondary education.
Father Koppes’ name is on the PLACE Corps’ annual award – the Father Albert P. Koppes, O.Carm. Alumni Award that is bestowed on the PLACE Corps alumnus/alumna who would make the “Father of the PLACE Corps” proud. There is also an endowed scholarship named in his honor.
Plans are in the works for a celebration of Father Koppes’ career at LMU and will be announced.
He wrote in the LMU-published collection “Contemplativus”: “I subscribe to this simple definition of prayer by St. Thérèse of Lisieux: ‘Prayer is a movement of the heart, it is as simple as a glance toward heaven, it is a cry of gratitude in times of trial as well as in times of joy.’”
Note: This story was updated to correct the ordination year.
