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Leadership and Continuity

Dr. Michael F. McLean Named Fourth President
of Thomas Aquinas College

(Winter 2010 Newsletter)

At its fall meeting on October 24, 2009, the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors appointed as the College's next president an experienced tutor and administrator who has served the College faithfully for more than three decades: Dean Michael F. McLean.

Dr. McLean joined the Thomas Aquinas College faculty in 1978 after completing his coursework for a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Previously, he served in the U.S. Peace Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard. He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy at Saint Mary's College of California, where he was a student of Thomas Aquinas College's founding president, Dr. Ronald P. McArthur, and a classmate of late president Dr. Thomas E. Dillon. Dr. McLean succeeds co-founder and interim president Peter L. DeLuca, who took office last April after Dr. Dillon's tragic death.

Over the course of his 30 years at the College, Dr. McLean has served as assistant dean for student affairs, vice president for development and, since 2003, dean of the College and a member of the Board of Governors. "Michael McLean has been a superior teacher, a superior dean, and a successful vice president for development," remarked Dr. McArthur. "He is, therefore, not only qualified but competent and capable of the highest kind of leadership for the College today."

Comprehensive Selection Process

Perhaps unique in the United States, the Thomas Aquinas College bylaws require that the College's president be chosen from among senior members of the teaching faculty, so as to safeguard the institution's strong Catholic identity and its commitment to liberal education. "At the time of our establishment in the late 1960s," explains Mr. DeLuca, "when many Catholic colleges were wavering in their mission, we sought to ensure that our future presidents would be committed to implementing the College's founding principles in the classroom." The process for choosing a new president began last summer, when a faculty nominating committee consulted with senior faculty members to determine suitable candidates. Two names were selected by the faculty committee and, in turn, delivered to a committee of the Board of Governors, which interviewed the candidates extensively. This committee then recommended Dr. McLean to the Board's full membership, and the governors approved the appointment unanimously. "We on the Board look forward with great faith and optimism to the continued ability of the school to produce outstanding graduates under Dr. McLean's leadership," said Mr. R. James Wensley, chairman of the Board of Governors.

Champion of Catholic Liberal Education

An enthusiastic hiker, gardener, and lover of music, Dr. McLean is a longtime champion of Catholic liberal education. He is the co-founder of the Great Books Seminars in Ojai, Calif., and a former president of the board of directors of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura. He and his wife of 42 years, Lynda, are the parents of three children and the grandparents of four.

Upon being appointed, Dr. McLean said, "I am humbled and deeply honored. I appreciate the careful way in which the faculty and Board conducted the presidential selection process. I have a deep love for the College, for the faculty, and for the students and will commit myself completely to preserving the College's mission, purpose, and fidelity to the Catholic Church. Together with the Board and the faculty, and with God's help, I will work to ensure that the College continues to attract eager and diligent students and remains in its present strong financial condition."

Dr. McLean assumed the responsibilities of his new office at the start of the second semester. He will be formally inaugurated on February 13.

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Winter 2010