Thomas Reese, S.J. Former Editor of America Magazine Will Address SCU Undergraduate Commencement Ceremonies

Business Wire, April 3, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Thomas Reese, S.J. a widely recognized expert on the Catholic Church and former editor of America Magazine will address Santa Clara University undergraduate students at the University's 155th undergraduate commencement on Saturday, June 17 at 8:30 a.m.

Approximately 100 degrees will be awarded at the ceremony in Buckshaw Stadium. Approximately 15,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony.

For more information about the commencement ceremonies, visit www.scu.edu/commencement.> A political scientist, a scholar, and a priest, Reese was editor of America Magazine, a leading Jesuit weekly and Web site (www.americamagazine.org), from June 1998 to May 2005. He is author of, among other books, a trilogy examining church organization and politics on the local, national, and international levels: Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church; A Flock of Shepherds: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. During the 2005-2006 academic year Reese has been a visiting scholar at Santa Clara University. Reese was also a widely quoted as an expert on the Catholic Church on television throughout the world as an insightful commentator on the papal funeral and election last year.

He has a M.A. in political science from St. Louis University (1968), a M.Div. (Master of Divinity) from the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley (1974), and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley (1976). In 1994-95, he was a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. He has two honorary degrees: a Doctor of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (2000) and a Doctor of Letters from Santa Clara University (2002).

In July 2006, Reese will return to the Woodstock Theological Center, in Washington D.C. in July where he served as a senior fellow before he became editor of America magazine in 1998. The Woodstock Theological Center is an independent nonprofit institute at Georgetown University.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,397 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the fourth-highest graduation rate among all U.S. master's universities, California's oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at www.scu.edu.