The former executive director at The American Conservative, Emile Doak moved from one “TAC” to another, joining Thomas Aquinas College as its director of East Coast development in February 2026. He brings with him myriad experience in fundraising and a sincere love for great education, politics, and the relation between the two.
A proud native Virginian and family man, Mr. Doak is a father of four, a lover of small towns, and a convert to the Catholic faith. He attended Georgetown University for his undergraduate degree in political philosophy and theology, studying, he says, under “great intellectual giants,” such as Rev. Stephen Fields, S.J., Dr. Patrick Deneen, and the late Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Under their tutelage, and in conversation with his now-wife, who was returning to the Church, Mr. Doak converted to Catholicism and was received into the Catholic Church at the end of his freshman year.
“Like many converts, I wanted to make sure Catholicism made sense intellectually,” he says. “I also had to come to terms with the fact that Christ is Who He says He is — that fact is unavoidable when you consider the history and His impact on Western civilization and my own, individual life. Once I did both those things, I had to join the Catholic Church.”
For a few years after graduation, Mr. Doak worked as a teacher, but as the culture shifted radically, he found himself drawn more to political matters. “In my professional life, I’ve always been torn between education and politics,” he admits. “I really wanted to advance the values I care about — Catholic, conservative, family values — and I saw politics as an important way to do that.”
His convictions led him to The American Conservative, where he rose through the ranks, serving in senior fundraising roles and working up to executive director. During this time, he helped guide the magazine to prominence as it became a staple in conservative news and commentary. He has written widely on issues of politics, faith, and culture, for publications like The American Conservative, First Things, Commonplace, Front Porch Republic, and Chronicles, and was a 2021 Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute.
After seven years, he left the news outlet to serve as executive director of the Chelsea Academy Foundation in Front Royal, Virginia, making a return to education and rooting his family in the Shenandoah Valley of his beloved home state. “I love the ideas in politics, but it’s a contact sport in many ways,” he remarks. “We need well-formed people to play it. So, I felt I could better advance the issues I cared about in the education space.”
Through this K-12 Catholic liberal arts school, Thomas Aquinas College continually appeared on Mr. Doak’s radar. Though he had first heard of the College back at Georgetown, he learned more from, and saw its fruits in, its alumni. “The more I got into the Catholic education space, I met more TAC alumni and learned a lot more about the College and the trajectory it’s on,” he says. “That’s when I really started to admire it.”
As a member of the College’s Development team, Mr. Doak travels the East Coast frequently, forming and maintaining relationships with supporters. “I really enjoy getting out there, getting to know the friends of the College, and sharing this incredible momentum we have right now,” he says. “There are a lot of wonderful people to meet, and I love getting to know them.”