Father Leopold Glueckert, who spent his freshman year of high school at Mount Carmel in 1956-57, and later served on the faculty, has brought his passion and dedication back to serve the Caravan in a variety of ways.

After that freshman year at 6410 Dante, Fr. Leopold left to join the Carmelite Seminary in Niagara Falls, Ontario to study for the priesthood.  His education later took him as far as Rome to further his study of theology, and then on to various schools and universities where he furthered his own education, and then shared his extensive knowledge of history with generations of students.  

Returning from Rome with a degree in theology, Fr. Leopold earned a master’s degree in history from DePaul University.  After his ordination in Joliet, he was appointed to the faculty of Mount Carmel, where he taught from 1969 through 1972. He also served for eight years at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California.  After that, he returned to his native midwest to pursue a doctoral degree in history at Loyola University.  During that period, he also supervised the formation program for aspiring Carmelites.  One of the young men in the program was the future Fr. Carl Markelz.

After completing his doctorate, Fr. Leopold returned to Crespi as president, holding that important role from 1990 through 1995.  He then taught at the college level, including two years at Loyola University Chicago and eight years at Lewis University.

In 2005, Fr. Leopold moved on to Washington Theological Union, where he taught seminarians from the various religious orders that sponsored the graduate school.

Following these many different experiences as a priest and teacher, Fr. Leopold has spent the past three years writing articles on Carmelite history, and recently published Desert Springs in the City: A Concise History of the Carmelites. He plans to continue writing and giving lectures while at MC.  While his various responsibilities will require a lot of travel, he is committed “to being a Carmelite presence for the school.”  He also hopes to help out teaching classes, should the need present itself.

Fr. Leopold recalls that way back in the 50’s, during that freshman year at MC, all of his teachers were Carmelite priests. The sense of community they demonstrated was what inspired him to become a Carmelite.

Given the experience of being influenced by other Carmelites as a young student, Fr. Leopold is committed to upholding the Carmelite identity of the school.

His advice on how today’s students can contribute to that tradition and identity is simple:  “Just be yourselves. Remember who you are, and try to pattern yourself after the Carmelites before us.”