John Goyette

California

Tutor and Vice President for Advancement

jgoyette@thomasaquinas.edu

St. Thomas Hall, Rm. 204

Curriculum Vitae

B.A., Thomas Aquinas College, 1990; M.A., philosophy, The Catholic University of America, 1993; Ph.D., philosophy, The Catholic University of America, 1998; Lecturer in Philosophy, The Catholic University of America, 1993-1994; Professor of Philosophy, Sacred Heart Major Seminary (Detroit), 1994-2002; Tutor, Thomas Aquinas College, 2002-; Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, 2007-2011; Dean of the College, 2017-2020; Dean of the California Campus, 2020-2023; Member, Board of Governors, 2017-present; Secretary of the Board, 2023-.

Profile

In 2017 Thomas Aquinas College President Michael F. McLean appointed Dr. John J. Goyette to succeed Dr. Brian T. Kelly as dean of the College

“Dr. Goyette has served the College ably as a tutor since 2002,” said Dr. McLean. “He is eminently qualified, having previously served as assistant dean for student affairs and as a member of the Admissions and Instruction committees. I am very confident that he will serve the College admirably in this new position.”

The selection, made after extensive consultation with the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Selection of the Dean, numerous conversations with members of the faculty, and much deliberation, was approved unanimously by the College’s Board of Governors. Dr. Goyette formally assumed the responsibilities of dean on July 1, 2017.

“I am honored to be asked to serve as the next dean of Thomas Aquinas College,” said Dr. Goyette. “I am committed to working with the faculty to continue to offer a truly Catholic liberal education, an education pursued under the light of faith and guided by our patron, St. Thomas.”

Dr. Goyette came to Thomas Aquinas College as a student in 1986 and graduated 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 — a fellow member of the Class of 1990 — are the parents of nine children.

As dean of the California campus Dr. Goyette supervises the College’s unique program of Catholic liberal education, makes class assignments, and is responsible for the general welfare and discipline of students. He also chairs the Instruction and Curriculum committees and oversees a wide range of College programs, from student activities and alumni relations to the chaplaincy and faculty hiring.

Publications

St. Thomas Aquinas on the Family and the Political Common Good. The Aquinas Review, 22 (2017-18): 21-49.
On the Transcendence of the Political Common Good: Aquinas versus the New Natural Law Theory. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, 13.1 (2013): 133-156.
Revision of the entry “Substance,” In New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and Philosophy, edited by Robert Fastiggi and Joseph Koterski, SJ. The Catholic University of America Press and Cengage Learning, 2013.
“The Political Common Good and the Perfection of Human Freedom.” In Reason and the Rule of Faith, edited by Steven Long and Christopher Thompson (University Press of America, 2011), 159-66.
St. Thomas on the Unity of Substantial Form. Nova et Vetera 7.4 (2009): 781-90.
St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by John Goyette, Mark S. Latkovic, and Richard S. Myers (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
“Natural Law and the Metaphysics of Creation.” In St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by John Goyette, Mark S. Latkovic, and Richard S. Myers (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 74-7.
Substantial Form and the Recovery of an Aristotelian Natural Science. The Thomist 66.4 (2002): 519-533.
Augustine versus Newman on the Relation between Sacred and Secular Science. In Faith, Scholarship and Culture in the 21st Century, edited by Alice Ramos and Marie I. George (American Maritain Association Publications, distributed by The Catholic University of America Press, 2002), 202-218.
The Idea of a Catholic University: Newman on the Role of Theology in a Liberal Education. Co-authored with William Mathie. Maritain Studies 16 (2000): 71-91