Bishop A. A. Noser, SVD, DD was born on July 4, 1900 in Belleville, Illinois. At age 22, he entered the Society of the Divine Word as a seminarian and was soon transferred to Rome for Canon Law studies. Noser was ordained in 1925 and returned to America with his degree. After many years as a seminary professor, Noser led the first mission of the Society of the Divine Word, evangelizing in Ghana. In 1947, he became Bishop of Accra, Ghana, and in 1953, he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Alexishagen, Papua New Guinea. For the last 28 years of his faithful life, Noser served the Church in Madang as Archbishop. He was instrumental in integrating Catholic schools to the US National Education System and led incredible missions across the world before passing away in 1981.