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Three Appointed to Board of Regents

(Spring 2008 Newsletter)

James T. Fahey, Jr. ('94)

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College's Class of 1994, James Fahey is a product manager at SanDisk Corporation in Milpitas, California, where he manages flash-memory-based card products for the mobile market. His background in the field of technology includes product marketing, product management, and semiconductor design roles both in the Silicon Valley and in Europe.

Mr. Fahey holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley and is currently pursuing a master's in philosophy part-time from the International Catholic University.

Mr. Fahey is a Third Order Carmelite (OCDS) in the Infant Jesus Carmelite Community in Santa Clara, California. A former wine steward, he enjoys broadening his knowledge of wine by visiting the greatest wineries and wine regions in California and around the world.

Commenting on his appointment to the Board of Regents earlier this year, Mr. Fahey says, "I believe in the education that Thomas Aquinas College offers, and I am grateful to my parents, friends, teachers, and the whole College community. I of course jumped at the opportunity to help give back in some small way to my alma mater for the great gifts of faith, knowledge, hope, and love that I have received through it. It is exciting to join this group of Regents who help raise money for the campus and for future generations of students."

Recalling his own years at the College, Mr. Fahey says, "When you read great saints such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Francis de Sales, and St. John of the Cross, you begin to understand what was required to form these minds. It took generations of people-families and religious communities-devoting their lives to study, prayer, and work to provide their educations. I believe that the education at Thomas Aquinas College, being grounded in the original works of the masters in philosophy and theology, offers a great beginning that, if built upon with a lifetime of continued study and good living nurtured by the sacraments, could very well produce this type of great mind and great saint."

"It has been my experience," he continues, "that the College's program produces devout Catholics who serve the Church well as parents, teachers, priests, religious, and laity, and who are able to carry on a dialogue with the works of these great thinkers, teachers, and shepherds. This is just what is needed in the Church today and why graduates of Thomas Aquinas College are so valuable to the life of the Church."

"The College," he adds, "shows what can be done when Catholics devote themselves to the perfection of the heart and mind under the wisdom and experience of the Church."

Alexander E. Lessard

Co-founder and former president of The Palisades Financial Group in Los Angeles, Alex E. Lessard has recently formed a Wealth Management team within UBS Financial Services Inc., with offices in La Jolla and Los Angeles. The focus of his new team is the tactical allocation of assets throughout all stages of wealth accumulation, preservation, and transfer. Mr. Lessard offers comprehensive executive and business financial planning services, asset management, personal risk management, and corporate benefits planning. He and his team address the full spectrum of financial goals important to businesses and families across generations. He has been a manger of family wealth since 1991.

Speaking of his recent appointment to the Board of Regents, Mr. Lessard says, "I am honored to assume the role of an ambassador of the College to the larger community. Numerous opportunities to comment upon the excellence of Thomas Aquinas College present themselves in the course of client conversations, contact with colleagues, and in the wider sphere of business acquaintance. The upcoming Golf Classic at Sherwood Country Club is the perfect kind of event to raise the profile of the College, especially with businessmen drawn both by a fraternal love of the game and the beauty of the venue. It is an investment that should pay perennial dividends into the College's scholarship fund."

Mr. Lessard holds a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from the University of St. Thomas, a Doctorate in systematic theology and ethics from Boston College, and a master of science in Financial Services (MSFS) from The American College with a concentration in complex business and estate planning. He holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and has passed Level One of the Chartered Financial Analyst Program (CFA).

In 1991, Alex married Angela (née Grimm, a graduate of the College's Class of 1985), and their ninth child was born in February. He serves on the board of InsideCatholic.com and Morley Publishing in Washington, D.C., and as the program director on the Pasadena Chapter Board of Legatus International. He also serves as treasurer of St. Monica Academy in Pasadena, CA. The Lessards' avocations include reading, music, and travel.

Reflecting on his association with Thomas Aquinas College, Mr. Lessard says, "I first learned of the College from a graduate who would become my wife. She came to the doctoral program in theology at Boston College far better prepared than the rest of us. Angela's ability to enter easily into the conversation with great authors pointed to a well-ordered education and a habit of lively debate. The more I learned about the integrated curriculum and Socratic classrooms, the more convinced I became both of the program's fundamental soundness and of its importance for any effort to retrieve authentic Catholic liberal education in America."

He adds, "We have tried to increase our support of the College each year, and with a number of young children who love the school, this support will inevitably multiply. The fundraising mission of the Board of Regents challenges members to leverage their personal support within wider business and personal spheres of influence, and this should lead both to adding wonderful new families to the College community and to broader support for the College 'from the outside in.' I am especially pleased that the Golf Classic benefits the scholarship program, as I was the beneficiary of a scholarship throughout my undergraduate years."

Gerard T. Weisbecker

Jerry Weisbecker is Senior Vice President at Griffin Industries, a major force in the residential home-building market in California. His role is to bring the international investment community to the firm to enhance and expand its real estate investment and development platform.

Formerly, Mr. Weisbecker was Senior Executive Vice President and CIO of Banco de la Nación Argentina, the commercial arm of the Argentine Central Bank, where he managed the banks' $18 billion (U.S. dollars) portfolio. From there, he began a successful 20-year career as a partner and managing director with Kidder, Peabody and Co., a long-standing investment banking firm. After that firm's buyout by PaineWebber in 1994, Mr. Weisbecker successfully transitioned to managing director roles at Merrill Lynch and Stone and Youngberg LLC.

Mr. Weisbecker received a bachelor of science degree in economics and finance from St. Johns University in New York and completed graduate courses in the financial management of commercial banks at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army and is a past chapter president of Legatus International, a world-renowned Catholic business leaders' organization.

He says of his recent appointment to the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Regents, "To me, the Regents exemplify the true nature of charitable giving-that of time, talents, and treasures in order to create and propagate an instructional and learning environment that maintains the orthodoxy of Catholic teachings. Nothing is more noble than to be involved in the pursuit of truth, and I am humbled by my participation on this path with some of the finest Catholics it has been my pleasure to meet."

Jerry and his wife, Francine, have been married for 40 years and have three grown sons and four grandchildren. They are active in a number of local political, social, and religious groups and keep busy with their cherished grand-parenting duties.

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Spring 2008