Fr. Greg is a native of Dayton, Ohio, where he graduated from Bishop Carroll High School in 1988. He holds a B.A. in English and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton (1993), an M.A. in English from the Pennsylvania State University (2004), an M.A. in philosophy from Fordham University (2014), and an M.Div. in theology and a Th.M. in scripture from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (2019). Most recently, he completed an Ed.M. in educational policy and management at Harvard Graduate School of Education (2020) and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government (2021).
Fr. Greg joined the Jesuits in 2008, teaching physics, coaching athletics, serving in campus ministry, and moderating student clubs at several Jesuit schools, including Loyola Academy (2014–16). He was ordained in 2019. He has served briefly as a parish priest and as a prison minister, and is currently on the Board of Trustees of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati.
Prior to joining the Jesuits, Fr. Greg served in the United States Navy for 13 years as a Surface Warfare Officer with a nuclear power subspeciality (1996–2008), where he served on a variety of ships: the USS South Carolina (CGN-37); the USS San Jacinto (CG-56), as the Air Warfare Officer; the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), as the Reactor Training Assistant, responsible for the training of the 450-person nuclear reactor department; and the USS Dextrous (MCM-13), as navigator and Executive Officer, the second in command of the 84-person crew. He also taught navigation at the Pennsylvania State University NROTC detachment.
Mr. Devine grew up in the Rogers Park area of Chicago and is a proud graduate of the Loyola Academy Class of 1988. (Loyola has educated four generations of the Devine family.) He has over 25 years of classroom and administrative experience, having most recently served as a social studies teacher here at Loyola Academy before becoming principal. Before returning to Loyola in 2020, he was the principal of Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago for nine years. During his tenure, Payton was consistently ranked among the top 25 high schools in the United States. He added 25 honors and AP courses to the curriculum, significantly expanded the school's visual and performing arts program by overseeing the construction of a black box theater and adding five new visual/performing arts classes, and developed robust programs to support the school’s Black, Latinx, and first-generation students. He also enhanced curricular, athletic, and cocurricular offerings across the board. Mr. Devine currently serves as a fellow with the Golden Apple Foundation.
Mr. Devine also served as the Social Studies Department Chair and teacher for 12 years at Northside College Prep and taught social studies at Bowen High School in Chicago for two years. He collaborated with the Museum of Broadcast Communications and the University of Illinois to develop the Great Debate curriculum and worked as a budget and policy analyst for the City of Chicago’s Office of Management and Budget, where he acted as a liaison between the Mayor's Office and various city departments. He has lectured extensively on pedagogy and assessment in social science teaching methods courses at both Northwestern University and DePaul University.
Among his many accolades, Mr. Devine received the Chicago Public Schools Principal Achievement Award from Mayor Rahm Emanuel (2015), was named Principal of the Year by the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago High School Media Awards (2017), and is a multi-year recipient of the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award (2013–2018).
A lifelong learner, Mr. Devine completed graduate work in Jesuit Studies at Boston College. His additional graduate studies include school leadership at Harvard University, educational leadership and administration at Loyola University, cognitive science, education law, and education policy at Northwestern University, secondary education (social studies) at the University of St. Thomas, and American, European, and world history at the University of Minnesota. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Cornell College.