John Garvey, a nationally renowned expert in constitutional law, religious liberty, and the First Amendment, took the helm at The Catholic University of America last July. He is the University's 15th president.
Garvey came to CUA from Boston College Law School, where he had served as dean since 1999. He brings 30 years of experience as a professor and administrator in higher education to his position at Catholic University.
Garvey's faith and his belief in the Catholic intellectual tradition have played a central role in his teaching and scholarly research. Upon accepting the position at CUA, Garvey said, "I have been committed for much of my life to advancing the cause of Catholic higher education, and there is no better place to do that than at The Catholic University of America."
Among his career accomplishments, Garvey was:
dean of Boston College Law School for 11 years . During his tenure, he hired 20 new faculty, established an alumni association and board of overseers, rebuilt the administrative infrastructure, launched the law school's first-ever capital campaign, and taught classes each academic year.
professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School from 1994 to 1999, a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School from 1985 to 1986, and a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law from 1976 to 1994 (receiving the Duncan Faculty Award in 1993).
assistant to the solicitor general in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1981 to 1984. He argued several prominent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corporation and Heckler v. Campbell, which addressed disability regulation within the Social Security Administration.
president of the Association of American Law Schools from 2008 to 2009. He also served on the Judicial Nominating Commission and the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Committee for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and on the Task Force on Terrorism for the American Bar Association. At age 34, he was elected to the American Law Institute. Currently, he serves as a columnist for Catholic News Service.
author ofWhat Are Freedoms For? (Harvard University Press, 1996) and the co-author of four books, including Sexuality and the U.S. Catholic Church: Crisis and Renewal (Herder & Herder, 2007), which won a Catholic Press Association award, and Religion and the Constitution (Aspen Publishers, second edition, 2006), which won the Jesuit Book Award from Alpha Sigma Nu.
awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Humanities and by the Danforth Foundation.
Garvey earned his J.D. in 1974 at Harvard Law School, where he served as treasurer of the Harvard Law Review , and he earned an A.B. in 1970 from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Jeanne Walter Garvey, have been married for 35 years and have five children and 12 grandchildren. Garvey, whose interests include golf, swimming, gardening, and piano, was born Sept. 28, 1948, in Sharon, Pa.
