Howard P. Bleichner is a systematic theologian at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California, and a leading figure in American priestly formation. He served as president and rector of St. Patrick's Seminary in San Francisco and as rector of the Theological College of the Catholic University of America. He is the author of View from the Altar, and the editor of volumes I and II of the Norms for Priestly Formation and the fourth edition of The Program of Priestly Formation. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.