The Rev. Thomas Regan was named Teacher of the Year early in his teaching career at the University and now serves as the Provincial Superior of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, located in Watertown.
He will deliver the commencement address on Sunday, May 20 at 10 a.m. at the University and will be presented with an honorary doctor of laws degree.
"Fairfield is just a fabulous institution," Regan said in a phone interview yesterday. "Fairfield graduates go on to do so many great things. It's a thrill being part of the alumni of the school."
As Provincial Superior of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, Regan oversees 400 Jesuit priests, brothers and seminarians.
"We oversee three high schools in New England. We have two high schools in Jamaica," he said. "We are currently in some court cases over some land disputes. We ran a high school until 1968 in Baghdad."
The Jesuits of New England sponsor, in addition to Fairfield University, Boston College and the College of the Holy Cross, three high schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, a retreat house in Gloucester and the Campion Renewal Center in Weston. They also staff six parishes and are involved in education and parish work in Jamaica, the West Indies, and Amman, Jordan.
Regan is a former president of the Jesuit Philosophical Association and was elected to the Executive Council of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. He served a six-year term as national president and chair of the Board of Directors of Alpha Sigma Nu, the National Jesuit Honor Society. Before his appointment as provincial superior, Regan was a tenured associate professor of philosophy at Fairfield where he chaired the Department of Philosophy.
"After graduating Waltham High School and after college, it's another 10 or 12 years of studies in grad school (before becoming a provincial superior)," he said. "I ended up being a philosophy teacher for 20 years."
Born and raised in Waltham, Regan entered the Society of Jesus following his graduation from Boston College. He holds a master's degree and doctorate from Fordham University and did his theological studies for the priesthood at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, receiving his master's of divinity degree with distinction in 1987.
"I had taught (At Fairfield University) for about 20 years and then I came back to Boston in 2003. They have a habit of having someone who speaks to the Jesuit identity of the school rather than some flashy celebrity...It's a great honor, obviously coming from people I really respect and love."
Regan said he travels back to Waltham often.
"I still get back for funerals and what not. I still see a lot of people I went to high school with and allot of people I went to grammar school with," he said. "I still know a couple of faculty members at Waltham High School ... I'm through Waltham a couple times week."
