September 15, 2022 – A beloved member of the Marist community, who was respected as a mentor, academic, writer and for his devotion to faith, has died. Brother Seán Sammon, FMS ’70, a member of Marist’s Board of Trustees and Scholar in Residence at Marist since 2010, passed away on Friday at the age of 74. Brother Seán was a former Superior General of the Marist Brothers worldwide and was an extraordinary leader who was known to Marist students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends alike.  

Brother Seán chaired the Academic Affairs Committee on Marist’s Board of Trustees, leading the committee’s work overseeing all aspects of academic life at Marist.  He also served on the Board’s Student Life and Diversity & Inclusion Committees. 

From 2001-2009, Brother Seán served as Superior General of the Marist Brothers, overseeing the work of more than 4,000 Brothers in 79 countries.  He established a relationship between the Brothers and the United Nations Human Rights Council, and was the only Brother to serve on the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which advises the Pope and makes policy decisions for religious orders worldwide.  

Brother Seán was the author of nearly a dozen books, including 2016’s Life After Youth: The Story of One Man’s Journey Through the Transition at Midlife, which garnered an award from the Catholic Press Association.  In 2020, he received the National Religious Vocation Conference’s Outstanding Recognition Award for his lifetime body of work and vision for religious life.  

Brother Seán was a frequent presence at campus events. An outstanding mentor to countless Marist students, he drew on his academic background and professional experience, frequently lecturing on leadership and interpersonal relations to campus groups.  

Born in Manhattan in 1947, Brother Seán studied psychology at Marist, and was drawn to religious life through his contact with the Marist Brothers.  He went on to earn a master’s in psychology from the New School for Social Research and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Fordham University.  He also worked as a licensed psychologist before assuming a series of leadership roles in the Marist Brothers. 

Marist Campus services for Brother Seán will take place at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel this Friday with a viewing beginning at 10 a.m., followed by a funeral Mass at 11:15 a.m. Limited in-person seating will be available in the Chapel, though a livestream will be posted on the Marist website and at an overflow location at the Nelly Goletti Theatre.