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Fr. Don Doll , S.J.
Short Bio
 Listen to Fr. Don Doll's story
Read Fr. Tony's Dream
Don Doll, S.J. is a Jesuit priest and well-known photographer whose work has been featured in National Geographic, [Hunters of the Bering Sea, June 1984, and The Athabascans along the Yukon, February, 1990] and a number of the Day in the Life of... books, including America, California, Italy, Ireland, Passage to Vietnam, and Christmas in America. He was introduced to both photography and to the Lakota people when he was assigned to the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota as a young Jesuit. Two of his books on Native Americans are: Crying for a Vision [Morgan and Morgan, 1976, Dobbs Ferry, NY], and Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation [1994, Crown Publishers, New York]. His Vision Quest CD-ROM was published in 1996, and the Vision Quest Exhibit has opened in 20 cities since it opened in 1994.
In May of 1997, Fr. Doll was awarded the prestigious Kodak Crystal Eagle Award for Impact in Photojournalism at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, for his many years of work with Native Americans.
Since 1969 Doll has lived and worked at Creighton University, in Omaha, Nebraska, where he is a professor of Journalism holding the Charles and Mary Heider Jesuit Chair. A recent project, “The Jesuits” has taken him around the world. One of his stories from this project, “Finding Ernesto” aired in November 1999, on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel. In 2003 he completed a series of landscape and panorama photographs of the Lewis and Clark trail between St. Louis, Missouri, and the Pacific Ocean near Ft. Clatsop.
In 2005, he photographed Jesuits assisting Tsunami victims in India and Sri Lanka, and for the Jesuit Refugee Service in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. In January of 2006, he was named Nebraska’s “Artist of the Year” at the Governor’s Nebraska Arts Awards in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Interview with Fr Tom Lawler, SJ (Vocation Director)
TL: What inspired you to join the Society of Jesus?
DD: I was inspired to join the Jesuits by the life and example of the Jesuits I knew at Marquette High School.
TL: Who/what influenced you? what events or people helped you decide to be a Jesuit?
DD: At Marquette high during our annual retreat in senior year, Fr. McAvoy, SJ, gave us the pitch about becoming a Jesuit. It was in the back of my mind when my classmate, now Fr. Ed Mathie, SJ, asked me what I was going to do after graduation during our drive down to Notre Dame University for a track meet. [We were both on the MUHS relay team]. I answered that I was thinking of joining the Jesuits. He responed that he was also. Well, he went ahead and applied. I procrastinated, proceeded with my application and was accepted into Air Force ROTC and in Chemical Engineering at Notre Dame. After I left Ed’s going away party on August 14th I couldn’t sleep that night thinking about the Jesuits. I called Fr. Fahey at MUHS the next day, told him my story, and he asked do you want to join the Jesuits. My ‘yes’ had me in the Jesuits two weeks later on September 1st. I should mention that I had talked to Fr. Fahey earlier that spring.
TL: What are some rewarding things about being a Jesuit today?
DD: It is incredibly rewarding to be an integral member of so many families as a priest.
My life as a university teacher is so rich in terms of the students I’ve come to know, the faculty who are some of my closest friends, and how I’ve been challenged to keep growing as a teacher and photographer.
TL: What gives you life and energy for ministry?
DD: My life and work as a Jesuit priest/teacher/photographer.
TL: Do you have some advice for a young man considering a vocation?
DD:Join NOW! I don’t understand why young people aren’t banging down our doors to join. It’s such a rich and rewarding life.
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Magis Productions
What is "Magis?" [pronounced "màh-gis"] It is a Latin word for "more," and is taken from the motto of the Jesuits, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" which is translated, "For the Greater Glory of God."
As the guiding principle for decision-making for all trained in Ignatian spirituality, one decides in favor of a course of action that is a "more" generous response to God's call, and thus for His greater glory.
The guiding principle for Magis|Productions is to take on projects that are for the 'greater glory . . .' such as Vision Quest in which the intention was to give 'voice' to Native American people, or the landmine photos supporting the ban against landmines, or photography to show how Jesuits are living out their mission of promoting faith and social justice.
For example, in past years, I photographed in Ecuador, Colombia, India, Sri Lanka and in Eastern Africa for Jesuit Refugee Service. View a video, entitled "The Spirit of Tsunami" by Anne Burke and her husband Chris Bell who accompanied me to Asia.
His work can be seen on his website: http://magis.creighton.edu
Don Doll portrait by Sarah Brandoon.
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