Rev. James J. Greenfield, OSFS, is the fourth president of DeSales University. He became the first alumnus of the university to serve as president when he began the position on Jan. 1, 2018. He previously served as the provincial of the eastern province of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales from 2008 to 2018.  While provincial, he served as president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. He taught human development at The George Washington University and pastoral theology at The Catholic University of America and the former Washington Theological Union, all in Washington, D.C.

He serves on the boards of the Minsi Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America; Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network; St. Luke’s Hospital-Sacred Heart Hospital; and Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc. He also serves on two higher education boards — the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities — and on the boards for two Catholic high schools in Philadelphia.

He earned a degree in politics at DeSales University, a masters of divinity at the DeSales School of Theology, and a masters degree in counseling and doctoral degree in human development at The George Washington University. He is a certified counselor and author of a number of articles on religious life, life-long faith formation, and the intersection of spirituality and human development.