Catholic Studies recently welcomed two new staff members, April Miller and Maureen Huss.
Miller is an administrative assistant serving the undergraduate side of the Department of Catholic Studies. She is a 2007 graduate of St. Thomas with a major in theology and a minor in chemical dependency counseling.
"I chose St. Thomas because of its academic reputation and religious affiliation. Although I wasn't Catholic when I first came to St. Thomas, I was drawn to the synthesis of faith and reason that St. Thomas represented. My faith came alive when I was at St. Thomas." Miller converted to Catholicism during her sophomore year.
Miller began working for the Church of St. Patrick in Edina during her senior year and continued there full time after graduation. She primarily worked as a middle-school/ high-school youth minister, but also led college and young adult trips. In 2008, she became a hall chaplain at St. Thomas in John Paul II and Murray residence halls. Appreciating the synthesis of different disciplines in the M.A. degree in Catholic Studies, she started the program in spring 2009.
In June, Miller will change her name as she is united in marriage with Nathan John Gallus, a first-year law student at St. Thomas.
Huss has a long history with St. Thomas. Her mother, Mary Sweeney, was secretary to former Dean of Students William B. Malevich during the 1960s and '70s. Huss herself was a student worker at St. Thomas and later worked full time as a receptionist in University Relations. One of her children, John, graduated from St. Thomas in business entrepreneurship. Another, George, is a junior who is studying business here. A graduate of the College of St. Catherine, Huss majored in business administration–management. Most recently she worked at Cretin-Derham Hall High School. Of her return to St. Thomas, she says, "I am happy to be back on campus and at the Center for Catholic Studies."
Huss lives in Roseville and is married with three children. She enjoys relaxing at the family cabin in Wisconsin.
