Early life and education William Joensen was born on July 8, 1960, in
Waterloo, Iowa to Alfred W. Joensen and Marilyn E. (née Simington) Joensen. He is the eldest of five children and grew up in
Ames, Iowa. Joensen received a Bachelor of Science degree in
zoology from
Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He was attending
medical school at the
University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, when he decided instead to study for the priesthood. Joensen's seminary education was at the
Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
Priesthood On June 24, 1989, Joensen was ordained to the priesthood for the
Archdiocese of Dubuque by Archbishop
Daniel Kucera in the Church of the Nativity in
Dubuque. After his 1989 ordination, the archdiocese assigned him as associate pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and faculty member of
Columbus High School, both in Waterloo, Iowa. He left these two posts in 1992 to become associate pastor of the Church of the Resurrection Parish in Dubuque. Joensen in 1995 went to Washington D.C. to attend the
Catholic University of America, where he earned a
Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2001. Archbishop
Michael Jackels was the consecrator, with Bishop
R. Walker Nickless and Bishop
Thomas Zinkula as the co-consecrators. ==See also==