There had been much speculation in recent weeks about who the new president of The Catholic University of America was going to be. Today, it was announced that the new president will be Boston College Law School Dean John Garvey. His appointment will be effective July 1, 2010. He is the third lay president of CUA.
According to a press release from CUA, Garvey is a nationally renowned constitutional law expert.
“We were looking for a person who not only is committed to the vision of Ex Corde Ecclesiae and can articulate it persuasively, but also can lead The Catholic University of America in achieving this ambitious goal,” said Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, chairman of the CUA Board of Trustees and the CUA Presidential Search Committee. Archbishop Vigneron described Garvey as “a man of strong Catholic faith with rich experience and a proven record as a scolar and a leader in higher education.”
The appointment of Garvey, past president of the Association of American Law Schools, brings to a close the university’s nine-month search for a new leader to replace Bishop O’Connell, who announced last October that he would be stepping down and who earlier this month was named coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Trenton.
“For more than a decade I have been the dean of Boston College Law School, an institution I have loved and been honored to serve,” said Garvey. “I can think of no other job I would have left BC for. But I have been committed for much of my life to advancing the cause of Catholic higher education, and there is no better place to do that than at The Catholic University of America. I hope during my term as president to continue the work Bishop O’Connell has done to build the quality of its academic programs, both graduate and undergraduate, and the endowment necessary to support them.”
Prior to his appointment as Boston College Law School dean, Garvey served as a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School from 1994 to 1999; as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School from 1985 to 1986; and as a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law from 1976 to 1994.
He served as assistant to the solicitor general at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1981 to 1984; as an associate at Morrison & Foerster, in San Francisco, from 1975 to 1976; and as a law clerk to Irving R. Kaufman, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, from 1974 to 1975.
Comments
Post a Comment
Having worked with John Garvey for the better part of his tenure at BC Law, I can only say that the Catholic University Board has made a terrific choice of a great leader for the institution and a thoughtful and articulate lay spokesman for the Church in the modern world. A man for all seasons. Congratulations to the CU Board.
Sadly, there are signs the trustees picked the wrong man:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6644
For example,
In 2007, Mr. Garvey was criticized by the Cardinal Newman Society when the law school awarded an honorary degree to Rep. Edward J. Markey, an abortion proponent with a 100% ‘pro-choice’ voting record. “Congressman Ed Markey is one of the most distinguished graduates of Boston College Law School, whose career of public service reflects the very best values and traditions of the School,” said Mr. Garvey. “I don’t believe Boston College has ever had a better friend in the United States Congress than Ed Markey.”
In awarding an honorary degree to Rep. Markey, Boston College Law School failed to heed the 2004 US bishops’ document “Catholics in Political Life,” which stated, “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Representative Markey has never received an honorary degree from Boston College. He is a graduate.
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.