Jim Towey - Background and Personal Life

Background and Personal Life

Towey graduated from Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida in 1974 and went on to Florida State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science with high honors in 1978 and a Juris Doctor in 1981.

Towey identifies as a Roman Catholic and is ostensibly a member of the Knights of Columbus.

He served as the sixteenth President of Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from July 1, 2006 until June 30, 2010. As President, Towey serves as the Chief Executive Officer of an educational institution that has been recognized by Forbes magazine as one of "America’s Best Colleges".

Major accomplishments during the years of his presidency include record levels of applications, enrollment as well as new pledge commitments; three consecutive budget surpluses; and the initiation of the most expensive construction and renovation project in the college’s history. Towey has made a priority of recruiting minority and international students. He also created a new Office of Service Learning to provide opportunities for hundreds of Saint Vincent students to experience serving those in need. Towey also presided over as somewhat controversial reaccreditation of the college by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 2007. A frequent speaker to groups and organizations all over the United States, Towey has spoken or lectured at Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and Davidson.

Towey, who served for four years as Assistant to the President of the United States and director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, was recognized by President George W. Bush for his work to improve the lives of those in need. Because of his work with the poor and infirm, consistent with his conscience and the dictates of his faith in the face of legal and public challenges, the Cuban Association of the Order of Malta has awarded Towey the 2009 Tuitio Fidei Award.

At the White House, Towey served as a member of President George W. Bush’s senior staff and reported directly to him on church-state and religious liberty issues, policies promoting tax incentives for enhanced charitable giving, and the implementation of individual choice in drug treatment, mentoring, housing and other federal programs.

Prior to his work at the White House, Towey in 1996 founded Aging with Dignity, a national non-profit organization to help individuals and their families plan for and receive appropriate care during times of serious illness. He created the document, Five Wishes, the most widely used advance directive in America with over 13 million copies in circulation.

Towey served in the administration of Florida Governor Lawton Chiles who brought him to Miami in 1991 as District Director of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services where he presided during the time of Hurricane Andrew. He later became Secretary of the 40,000 employee agency.

Towey represented the late Mother Teresa on legal matters in the United States and Canada for 12 years (from 1985 until her death) and traveled with her on numerous occasions. He served nearly two years as a full-time volunteer in Mexico in one of Mother Teresa's missions and in her Washington, D.C. home for people suffering from AIDS. For the past three years he has returned to Calcutta with Saint Vincent College students to work in her missions.

A 1978 graduate of the Florida State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with high honors, Towey earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Florida State University College of Law in 1981.

He has been honored for his public service including six honorary doctoral degrees, the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Papal Cross from Pope John Paul II, the Omicron Delta Kappa Grad Made Good Award from Florida State University, and the Archbishop John Carroll Award from the Archdiocese of Miami. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. During his career, Towey has appeared as a guest on multiple occasions on 60 Minutes and the NBC Today Show, as well as on Fox News Sunday, Good Morning America, and other major cable and network programs. He has been published in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Miami Herald.

Towey grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He and his wife, Mary Towey, have five children: James Marion, Joseph Marius, Maximilian Marian, John Mariano and Marie Therese.