President of Thomas Aquinas College Dead in Car Accident in Ireland
(April 16, 2009)
SANTA PAULA, CA - In a letter today to key officials and benefactors
of Thomas Aquinas College, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mrs.
Maria O. Grant, announced the shocking news that on Wednesday, April
15, 2009, Dr. Thomas E. Dillon, president of the college for the
past 18 years, had died in a car accident in Ireland, where he was
traveling on behalf of the school. Mrs. Dillon, who was traveling
with him, was only slightly injured and was hospitalized briefly.
"Family members and a representative of the College,"
said Mrs. Grant, "are en route to Ireland to bring Mrs. Dillon
back to California and to accompany Dr. Dillon's body."
Though Wednesday was the last day of Easter vacation, some faculty
and students were already on campus. The tragic news was announced
to them in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at 1:00 p.m.,
and at 3:00 p.m., a rosary was said and Mass offered for the repose
of Dr. Dillon's soul.
Information regarding funeral arrangements is forthcoming. "In
the meantime," said Mrs. Grant, "I ask that everyone please
pray for the happy repose of Dr. Dillon's soul, and for the consolation
of his family."
Dr. Thomas E. Dillon served as president of Thomas
Aquinas College from 1991 until his death in 2009. He was a member
of the teaching faculty since 1972, and a member of the Board of
Governors since 1981. Prior to being appointed as president, he
served as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Academic Dean.
Dr. Dillon held a bachelor of arts in Integral Liberal Arts from
St. Mary's College of California, and masters and doctoral degrees
in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.
President Dillon was a member of the Sovereign Military Order of
Malta and served on the Board of Directors of a number of organizations,
including the Institute on Religious Life. A member of Legatus for
the past 12 years, he had spoken to various Legatus chapters around
the country and at the Legatus International Summit in Naples, Florida,
in 2005 and Napa, California, in 2006.
He leaves behind his beloved wife, Terri, their four children,
and 15 grandchildren.
ABOUT THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE:
Ranked the #5 "Best Value" in the country for 2008 among
all private institutions in the United States by The Princeton Review,
Thomas Aquinas College is a four-year, Catholic liberal arts college
with a fully-integrated curriculum composed exclusively of the Great
Books, the seminal works in the major disciplines by the great thinkers
who have helped shape Western civilization. There are no textbooks,
no lectures and no electives. Instead, under the guidance of faculty
members and using only the Socratic method of dialogue in classes
of no more than 20, students read and discuss the original works
of authors such as Euclid, Dante, Galileo, Descartes, the American
Founding Fathers, Adam Smith, Shakespeare, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton,
Einstein, Aristotle, Plato, St. Augustine, and of course, St. Thomas
Aquinas. Graduates consistently excel in the many world-class institutions
at which they pursue graduate degrees in fields such as law, medicine,
business, theology and education. They have distinguished themselves
serving as lawyers, doctors, business owners, priests, military
service men and women, educators, journalists and college presidents.
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