National honor recognizes decades of service, advocacy and philanthropy advancing Catholic higher education
Alvernia University President Emeritus Thomas F. Flynn, Ph.D., receives the Presidents’ Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) during the organization’s Banquet & Awards Presentation.
The Presidents’ Distinguished Service Award is presented to individuals whose personal service to Catholic higher education is exceptional, who have promoted Catholic higher education through sustained public advocacy and who have advanced its mission through philanthropy and voluntary leadership.
“Dr. Flynn has devoted his career to advancing Catholic higher education, offering principled and trusted counsel to presidents and boards across the nation,” said Alvernia President Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. “His leadership reflects a profound commitment to the mission of Catholic higher education—placing students at the center, strengthening the institutions they call home, and honoring the responsibility universities hold to the communities they are called to serve.”
Flynn served as Alvernia’s president from 2005-2019 and continues his national work as a senior associate with the ACCU Consultancy Service. Through his consultancy leadership, he has helped presidents and senior teams navigate governance, strategy, mission integration and institutional change, extending the reach and effectiveness of ACCU’s support for Catholic colleges and universities.
“Being honored by one's peers, especially in the twilight of one's career, is gratifying and humbling,” said Flynn. “ I've been blessed with impressive colleagues, fellow faculty leaders at the Mount in Maryland, the Bernardine Sisters and Alvernia University community, and numerous others. Today's presidents require financial and business acumen. Yet today's turbulent, toxic, prevailing ethos also requires commitment to pastoral and prophetic leadership as a countercultural alternative. Pastoral leadership rooted in care, compassion, and radical inclusion shaped by our tradition and charisms. Prophetic leadership that builds unity around shared mission and includes principled opposition and courageous advocacy. I'm grateful to support so many impressive presidents and promise to keep your work in my thoughts, prayers, and service.”
Flynn’s commitment to Catholic higher education also includes philanthropy that strengthens academic excellence and faculty success at Alvernia. In 2024, Alvernia announced the establishment of the Flynn Family Endowment, which expands support for faculty research, teaching excellence and professional development.
“His work with ACCU very broadly is the culmination of his entire career,” said Xavier University President Emeritus Fr. Mike Graham. “It really allows him to draw on everything he's learned along the way and share it now. I think some of his most rewarding relationships have been with aspiring presidents and men and women early in their presidential years. Tom is an intensely relational person. The friendships he's developed over the years, are many and striking. He has so many great, great colleagues.”
During the award ceremony on Jan. 31 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., Flynn was honored with a video presentation that contained thoughtful remarks from colleagues across Catholic higher education.
“Flynn also has a gift for making things happen, for staying well beyond the hour to make something happen, for gathering people around him to make something happen, to asking hard questions, to make something happen, to understanding that anything and everything good that happens is going to come out of the community that it is intended to serve,” said Concordia College President Emeritus William Craft, Ph.D. “That's an extraordinary thing. It's really hard to do something, especially to do something good.”
