To serve as Thomas Aquinas College’s next vice president for advancement, in 2024 President Paul J. O’Reilly selected a longtime member of the teaching faculty who had previously served as dean, assistant dean, and senior advancement officer: Dr. John J. Goyette (’90).
Upon his appointment as dean in 2017, Dr. Goyette oversaw the reaccreditation of the California campus and, shortly thereafter, the campus-wide evacuation resulting from the Thomas Fire, as well as the subsequent readjustment of the academic schedule. He additionally played a vital role in establishing the College’s second campus in New England. He led the effort to gain the approval of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, directed the hiring of the campus’s initial faculty, and formulated a plan under which members of New England’s first graduating class spent their freshman year in California.
“The idea was for that first class to experience life on the original campus,” Dr. Goyette explains. “Its members could be formed by the culture and intellectual customs of the College, then bring those with them to the new campus.”
In 2020, he led the College through the initial round of COVID-19 shutdowns, managing campus closures and the emergency move to an online platform to complete the 2019-20 academic year. As students and tutors struggled to engage in their online classes, Dr. Goyette perceived that he had to find a better solution. “Much of the nation went remote, but I knew that it was absolutely imperative that we open in person for the fall,” he says. “So, I formed a medical advisory board and spent the entire summer drafting plans for both campuses to open in person. For our academic program to work, our students needed to live and study together — and to sit around the seminar table together.”
Thanks to the resourceful efforts of Dr. Goyette and his associates, both campuses were permitted to resume in-person instruction in the fall of 2020. “As dean, I had to work with a lot of different constituents. Between the health department and parents with differing opinions, I had to work with everybody to come up with a plan that that most people could be happy with,” Dr. Goyette observes.
“I have witnessed John’s leadership skills in the various challenges the College has navigated during his tenure as dean,” says Chairman of the Board of Governors Scott Turicchi. “He approaches each as an opportunity with clarity of thought, careful planning, and vigor in the execution. John is well suited to bring such leadership to the Advancement Office as the College takes its development efforts to the next level.”
Dr. Goyette first came to Thomas Aquinas College as a student in 1986, graduating four years later. He went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in philosophy at The Catholic University of America, then served for eight years as a professor of philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit before returning to his alma mater as a member of the teaching faculty in 2002. He and his wife, Rebecca (Mathie ’90), are the parents of nine children, six of whom are TAC alumni, one is a rising junior on the New England campus, and one will be a freshman on the California campus this fall.
After Dr. Goyette stepped down as Dean in 2023, Dr. O’Reilly asked him to work part-time in the Advancement Office. In addition to his time in the classroom, he spent much of the past year visiting with benefactors and raising funds.
“I tried to take my experience as a tutor and as dean to help raise money for the College,” he says. “Tutors are the ones who know firsthand what the program is all about, because they see directly how the education is helping form the minds and souls of our students. They can talk very concretely about what we do, why we do it, and the kind of impact it has for our alumni, the Church, and the world.”
In 2024, Dr. Goyette organized and led the College’s first pilgrimage, bringing members of the Board of Governors, alumni, and friends to Rome to visit key sites associated with St. Thomas Aquinas on the 750th anniversary of the Angelic Doctor’s death. The trip was a great success and helped cultivate new relationships between benefactors.
Dr. Goyette oversees all of the College’s public relations and fundraising personnel, administers development strategies, and meets regularly with benefactors. “I am confident that Dr. Goyette has the skills and abilities to advance the College’s mission among some of America’s most generous philanthropists,” says Dr. O’Reilly. “He has my gratitude for accepting this appointment.”