Paul J. O'Reilly is an American scholar and academic who became the 5th president of

Thomas Aquinas College Thomas Aquinas College is a private, conservative, Catholic liberal arts college in Santa Paula, California. It was established in 1971. Academics To ensure institutional autonomy, the college does not accept funding from either the federal ...

on June 9, 2021.

Early life and education

O'Reilly earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

from

, and his Master of Arts in philosophy and Ph.D. in philosophy from

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

. O'Reilly grew up in war-torn

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

during a period of political instability known as

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. The second of eight children, O'Reilly moved to Canada with his family when he was 16. Several months after moving to Canada, his mother was killed in a car accident. O'Reilly and his siblings were then adopted by their uncle and aunt who lived in California. Upon finishing high school, O'Reilly enrolled at Thomas Aquinas College, from which he graduated in 1984. He then pursued graduate studies in philosophy at the Université Laval, earning his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1989. Prior to returning to Thomas Aquinas College as a professor, O'Reilly served as an instructor at

St. Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a Private college, private Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889, it is named after Saint Ansel ...

and as an adjunct lecturer at the

Thomas More Institute The Thomas More Institute (TMI) for Adult Education is a secular academic institution located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It offers a program of university level studies in the liberal arts. Affiliated with Université de Montréal at its beginn ...

Thomas Aquinas College

O'Reilly began teaching at

in 1989. In 2011, he was named the college's vice president for Development, and was appointed to be Thomas Aquinas College's 5th president by the Board of Governors in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Paul J. 1961 births Thomas Aquinas College alumni Université Laval alumni Thomas Aquinas College faculty Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Living people