Dr. Joseph McFadden received the first Albertus Magnus Award
The former President of the University of St. Thomas Houston, the first ICUSTA Executive Director and current member of the Honor Council, Dr. Joseph McFadden, has been the first person to be granted ICUSTA’s Albertus Magnus Award.
In fact, it has been established in our by-laws that “ICUSTA may elect to award institutions and/or individuals for distinguished accomplishments that are in keeping with the mission and vision of ICUSTA… Awards shall be of an appropriate token symbolic of individual contributions to Catholic Higher Education”.
Accordingly, an honorary distinction for Dr. McFadden was proposed at the 13th Biennial Conference in Avila, Spain, by the Honor Council member Prof. Francois Boulêtreau, “for his international involvement and Christian work”. Afterwards, this proposal was recommended by the Executive Committee under the name “Albertus Magnus Award”, in remembrance of St. Thomas Aquinas’ mentor. It was later approved by the member institutions and unanimously confirmed by all attending delegates at the 14th Biennial Conference in Houston, US.
During the Closing Ceremony of this last Biennial, the Albertus Magnus Award 2019 was bestowed upon Mr. Joseph McFadden, in the company of his wife, Mrs. Norma McFadden. President Richard Ludwick presented the framed diploma and a Mont Blanc pen to the awardee and gave a few words. The incoming President of ICUSTA, Juan Carlos Mena, and the representative of the Honor Council, Lydia Jiménez, congratulated him as well. Finally, “Tip” McFadden expressed his gratitude for the award, remarked about the necessity of coming together and recalled the first invitation he received to take part in the nascent ICUSTA in 1993.
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