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Santa Clara University President Wins Lifetime Achievement Award; Paul Locatelli, S.J. Has Served Jesuit, Catholic School Since 1988

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 09:00 CST

Santa Clara University President Paul Locatelli, S.J. was named the 10th recipient of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's (SVLG) Spirit of Silicon Valley Lifetime Achievement Award. At the annual luncheon, held Friday, Oct. 28 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, Locatelli was honored for building Santa Clara University into a nationally recognized university and his commitment to ethics.

"When we think of 'The Spirit of Silicon Valley,' it is easy to imagine Father Locatelli," said Carl Guardino, CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group. "He epitomizes the criteria considered for these words: impeccable ethics, business excellence, and community engagement."

Locatelli has been president of the Jesuit University in Silicon Valley since 1988. His current term of office ends in 2006. Last year SCU board of trustees voted to extend his term to an unprecedented fourth term adding another six years to his tenure.

"One of the ways in which he's been extraordinary is he's taken the basic mission of what a Jesuit university is about and applied it to the community around him," said former Rep. Leon Panetta, in an interview to the San Jose Mercury News. Panetta, a former college classmate of Locatelli's at SCU, is a member of the university's board of trustees.

Other recent winners of the Spirit of Silicon Valley Lifetime Achievement Award are Tony Ridder, Chairman and CEO, Knight Ridder (2004), Edward (Ned) Barnholt, chairman emeritus Agilent Technology and Wilf Corrigan, Chairman LSI Logic (2003) and Norman Mineta, former US transportation secretary (2002).

"It is hard to imagine any one more qualified than Paul Locatelli," said Edward (Ned) Barnholt. "He is a Renaissance man and a great leader," Barnholt said.

Accepting the award Locatelli said, "This award is less about me and much more about Santa Clara University and the Jesuits, the religious order of Catholic priests dedicated to education. Our ideal of educating leaders of competence, conscience and compassion matches SVLG's ideals for this award, namely, business excellence, impeccable ethics, and community engagement."

He said that a Santa Clara education prepares students to be ethical, socially responsible leaders who will leaven the Valley and the world beyond with knowledge, understanding, and virtues like wisdom. "With a humanistic and ethical orientation, Santa Clara programs reflect the best of Silicon Valley in developing and using science and technology to benefit humanity," Locatelli said.

Before becoming president, Locatelli, 67, served six years as academic vice president at SCU. He earned his undergraduate degree in business from SCU, a doctorate in business administration from the University of Southern California, and a master of divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1974.

Locatelli serves on a number of boards including the National Conference of Community and Justice/Silicon Valley Region, the American Leadership Forum, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,213 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the third-highest graduation rate among U.S. masters' universities across the country, California's oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at www.scu.edu.

Source: Business Wire

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