Br. Paul Ackerman, FSC

In his role as the Midwest District's Director of Senior Brothers, Br. Paul Ackerman walks alongside aging members of the community as they navigate the many changes that come with growing older: health decisions, retirement, and the ongoing question of how to continue living out one's vocation when the classroom is no longer a daily reality.

Br. Paul was fortunate, he says, to have great Brothers as teachers from a very early age. Brother Leo Jones was among the first to impress him — happy, intelligent, clearly engaged in what he was doing. It was the joy of those men, as much as any formal argument, that drew Paul toward religious life.

Among the Brothers who have most influenced him in community was Brother Kevin Mackey, a man he describes as a "true gentleman" who had an extraordinary gift: he anticipated the needs of others before they were even voiced. And then there was Br. Denis Murphy, who didn't stop creating new ministries just because he reached retirement age. Murphy and Paul worked together to found De La Salle Blackfeet — a ministry that serves a Native American community and embodies the Lasallian commitment to those on the margins.

Br. Paul's years at St. Joe's in Chicago gave him one memory he still carries close: taking students to the Catholic Worker soup kitchen in uptown Chicago twice a week. "It was an eye-opening experience," he recalls, one that changed how students understood the world and their place in it.

His wish for the next generation? To spend time working and living alongside the poor, whether in Chicago or Africa. "It will humble and instruct you," he says, "how to accept what life struggles come your way." And his gift to students, if he could give just one? "Assume that life is an adventure — and a short one. Make a difference, not a dollar."