Thomas Aquinas College is unique among American colleges and universities, offering a faithfully Catholic education comprised entirely of the Great Books and classroom discussions.
Truth, and nothing less, sets men free; and because truth is both natural and supernatural, the College’s curriculum aims at both natural and divine wisdom.
The intellectual tradition and moral teachings of the Catholic Church infuse the whole life of Thomas Aquinas College, illuminating the curriculum and the community alike.
Do you enjoy grappling with complex questions? Are you willing to engage in discussions about difficult concepts, with the truth as your ultimate goal?
There is always something to do at TAC — something worthwhile, something fulfilling, and something geared toward ever-greater spiritual and intellectual growth.
Nothing speaks more to the versatility of the College’s academic program than the good that our alumni are doing throughout the Church and the world.
For three weeks in October of 2008, the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops met in the Vatican on the theme “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” Among those advising the bishops in their studies and discussions was Dr. Michael Waldstein, Thomas Aquinas College Class of 1977.
In 1982, Thomas Aquinas College was singularly graced to have as its Commencement Speaker Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, M.C., who not long before had received the Nobel Peace Prize. In high demand that year for graduation ceremonies by colleges and universities around the country, she appeared nevertheless on only three American campuses — those of Harvard, Georgetown, and Thomas Aquinas College.
In the early 1980s, Laura (Steichen ’75) Berquist began homeschooling her six children. Quietly. Unassumingly. She never dreamed that her experience would lead to a hot-selling book, a consulting business, and more speaking invitations than she can handle. But it has.
Born in 1959 in King of Prussia, a suburb of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia, Dr. Joseph Almeida (’81) considers his a typical All-American, middle-class childhood. His parents were first-generation Americans from Portugal; he was the oldest of three children. By his account, it was a relatively ordinary Catholic family.
Since His Holiness Pope John Paul II first introduced the Prize of the Pontifical Academies in 1997, only five scholars worldwide have received the honor. Of those, only two have come from North America — and both are alumni of Thomas Aquinas College.
At a January 27, 2010, conference of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Theological Academy, His Eminence Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B., Secretary of the Vatican Secretariat of State, presented this prestigious award to Dr. John R. Mortensen, a graduate of the Thomas Aquinas College Class of 1997.
There was something about Thomas Aquinas College that compelled Jean Rioux to seek an undergraduate education some 2,700 miles from his native Maine in 1978. It is that same something that Dr. Rioux now tries to pass along as chair of the Department of Philosophy at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
Immediately after graduating from Thomas Aquinas College, Rolfe Kratz (‘97) returned to his home state of Virginia and started to partner with his mother as a realtor. Since then, he has cultivated numerous clients in the real-estate market of Metro D.C., a uniquely fast-paced market due to the high turnover of government appointees.
The Senior Energy Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Mary Bridget Neumayr (’86) previously served in the George W. Bush Administration, first at the U.S. Department of Justice as a Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and National Resources Division, and then at the U.S. Department of Energy as Deputy General Counsel for Environment and Nuclear Programs.
Having desired to be a lawyer since she was six years old, Rebekah Shapiro wasted no time pursuing a legal career after graduating from Thomas Aquinas College in 2005. That fall, she enrolled at the University of Virginia School of Law where she found her classical education came in handy. “I wrote a paper on the references to Plato, Aristotle, and St. Augustine in Roe v. Wade in a public-health law class and got an A,” she recalls. “Law professors are always very impressed when law students can do original translations!”