Michael Knowles has been named president of Trenton Catholic Academy following the passing of Sister of St. Joseph Sister Dorothy Payne in February.

Knowles joined the Hamilton school community in 2015 and has served as the marketing director and community relations liaison. He is the Project Lead the Way/ STEM curriculum coordinator and the Upper School FIRST Robotics moderator.

Prior to joining the school community, Knowles held a broad range of positions in engineering, program management and business development. His career was devoted to delivering high-quality engineering, software engineering and systems integration services and products for large scale, risk-to-life mission systems. Knowles earned the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute in 2004 and had been president of Mission Solutions Engineering LLC, a subsidiary of ASRC Federal Holding Company, in May 2012.

Knowles is a lifelong parishioner of Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton. He taught religious education for more than 20 years, was involved in youth ministry and was co-founder of Mercy House, an organization that focuses on providing social services in the South Trenton area. In 2010, he was awarded the Gaudium et Spes Award from the Diocese of Trenton in recognition of his work in ministry.

Knowles, who spent the last four years working closely with Sister Dorothy, said, “I am truly humbled to assume this leadership position at Trenton Catholic Academy. Sister Dorothy Payne was an outstanding role model and mentor to me. I had the utmost respect and love for her. 

“TCA has a proven record of transforming lives, mine included,” he continued. “I welcome the opportunity to build upon the strong foundation Sister Dorothy provided, and I will continue to ask for God's blessing and grace to be a good steward.”