Brandon Swanson
Governing Board Chair
Brandon is currently employed with Moline Machinery, in Duluth, where he began his career as an electrician. He worked his way up to lead in his department and served in a number of ways for Duluth's Local 1575 Machinist and Aerospace Workers Union (IAM), including a term as Union Secretary. Over the past several years, Brandon has worked towards obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and upon graduation, transitioned into the Engineering department at Moline Machinery. Brandon is the father of seven children and a life-time resident of Cloquet. He and his wife, Rebekah, converted to the Catholic faith in the fall of 2006 and have been involved with youth ministry at Queen of Peace Parish ever since. Brandon has been involved with numerous committees and fundraisers through Queen of Peace Catholic School, including serving on the Advisory Board in the Chair position. He has a passion for authentic Catholic education and is dedicated to helping it succeed and thrive in our culture.
Connie Wappes
Governing Board Secretary
Bio coming soon...
Adam Sullivan
Governing Board Member
Adam attended the University of St. Thomas, double majoring in Philosophy and Catholic Studies. While at St. Thomas, he spent three years at St. John Vianney College Seminary. He later attended the University of Minnesota Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor of Law Degree in 2018. Adam was in private practice in Duluth handling a wide variety of legal matters, specializing in real estate, business transactions, corporate, and employment law. Currently, Adam serves as Assistant Legal Counsel at Enbridge Energy in Duluth, and resides in Esko with his wife and their five children.
Dr. Tom Nelson
Governing Board Member
Tom received his Medical Degree from the University of Minnesota after receiving a BA in Biology at the University of Saint Thomas. He is a practicing general surgeon and has been the course director and instructor for the Advanced Trauma Life Support program at St. Luke’s hospital the past 25 years. Tom and his wife, Yolanda, have raised six children whom all together received 51 years of Catholic education at Holy Rosary Catholic School in Duluth, MN. He was on the Blue Ribbon committee set up by then Bishop Schnurr to help strengthen Catholic education in the Duluth area so that it would be available and affordable for all who desired it. Having witnessed the profound impact of Catholic education and the Catholic Faith, Tom is motivated to help Mater Dei in any way he can so that students achieve the most important goal in their lives—getting their souls to Heaven.
Kevin McGrath
Governing Board Member
Kevin comes to Mater Dei following a thirty-nine-year career in military and civil aviation and management. Born and raised in Rhode Island, he received his BA in History and MA in American History from Providence College. During his time in Rhode Island, he worked as a newspaper journalist and writer. In military and corporate settings Kevin has spent many hours instructing professional development in both the cockpit and classroom. Kevin, his wife Debra, and son Jack live in Cloquet and are active members of the Queen of Peace parish where he has assisted as a substitute teacher at the parish school. He has also served for many years as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 171 in Cloquet, dedicated to developing strong character, good citizenship and physical fitness in young men.
Brady Kamphenkel
Governing Board Member - Ex officio
Brady received his Bachelors of Arts in Humanities from the College of St. Scholastica and his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing/Poetry from the University of Southern Maine–Stonecoast, where his research centered on English verse prosody and Modernist poetics. He has taught at the collegiate level at Lake Superior College and the College of St. Scholastica, in the areas of composition and rhetoric studies, English literature, and creative writing. An accomplished poet, Brady is known for his work published in journals such as 2River, SLANT, The Northern New England Review and Cave Wall. He currently resides in Duluth. A firm believer in education that is founded in the classical heritage, he looks forward to his role as Headmaster at Mater Dei, in addition to teaching literary subjects near and dear to him as part of the dedicated faculty.