Additional education: MBA, NYU Stern School of Business, 2014

“My academic study of philosophy helped me develop habits of making structured arguments, to think logically and convey difficult concepts,” reflects Michael Petit. His “broad and multi-dimensional” Arts and Sciences education provided him with a context for understanding big issues and with an ability to analyze and tackle the problems at hand—skills he applied during overseas service as a Marine Corps captain as well as in his current role of giving financial advice to clients. “You may not think of philosophy as a practical degree, but it shaped me as a person.”

Restaurateur Joe Bastianich ’89, political science and philosophy majors, is a partner at Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group, which owns 30 Italian-inspired restaurants in the United States and Asia—“from pizza joints,” Bastianich says, “to Del Posto” (which garnered four stars in the New York Times).

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Undergraduate majors: Biology and Philosophy

Most influential course or teacher at BC?
“Person and Social Responsibility,” the PULSE core course.

What skill/knowledge did you gain as a BC undergraduate that you still use today?
Adaptability—the cornerstone of a liberal arts education. It will prepare any BC grad to pivot in the ever-changing marketplace and global economy.

How did your undergraduate experience prepare you for life and career?
Having classes ranging from theology and philosophy to chemistry fostered the capacity to learn differently, think critically, and shift my thinking. Upon graduation, I was not in search of a job or even a career, but a calling.

What affiliation, interest, or hobby outside your job is important to you?
Promoting STEM careers to underrepresented minorities.

Advice to new students?
Do not be afraid to take classes or join clubs that seem unrelated to your intended career path. Having varied experiences in and out of the classroom can make your time at BC richer and more meaningful.

As student body president, Rhodes Scholar nominee, and student representative of Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century initiative, it is a small wonder that Grace Simmons Zuncic won the 2005 Edward H. Finnegan, SJ, Award as the senior who best exemplified BC’s motto “Ever to Excel.” She has stayed true to those words, working as a management consultant to the White House and Department of Homeland Security, then as an investment advisor for Goldman Sachs. Today, the BC Philosophy and Political Science major and Harvard Business School grad serves as senior vice president at Chobani, one of the top-selling yogurts in the US.

Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences graduate Justin Marceau '00, philosophy major, is the first holder of what is believed to be the nation's first professorship devoted to animal rights.

“Law school gave me two great gifts: my wife and my first meaningful exposure to animal law,“ Marceau told a reporter. “Both have changed the trajectory of my life.”

He has spent years doing pro bono and consulting work with animal rights organizations and has been involved in litigation involving “Ag-Gag” laws, which refers to the criminalization of whistleblowers who might use photos or videos to document abuse and food safety problems on factory farms.

A native of Toronto who moved to Massachusetts at age 12, Bishop O'Connell is the youngest of four children, and the son of the late Thomas O’Connell ’50, who as University Librarian from 1975-85 oversaw the most dramatic expansion of Boston College library facilities in the school’s history.

All three of Bishop O’Connell’s siblings also graduated from BC: Thomas ’88, Margaret Mary ’83, M.A. ’85, and John ’84. His late uncle was a Boston priest, Father David F. Delaney, and his aunt is a Dominican Sister, Sr. Jean Delaney, O.P.

Bishop O’Connell earned a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy at BC. Following his theology studies at Saint John Seminary, he was ordained into the priesthood in 1990. He served five years at Saint Barbara Parish in Woburn, Mass. and two years at Saint Mary of the Annunciation in Danvers, during which time he was one of the chaplains at Salem State University.

He continued his studies in Rome in canon law in 1997 and received both his license and doctorate in canon law from Universitá della Santa Croce in 1999 and 2002, respectively. From 2001 to 2007, he served as assistant to the moderator of the Curia for Canonical Affairs.

He has been Judicial Vicar since 2007, is on the faculty at both Saint John Seminary and Pope St. John XXIII Seminary, and is chaplain to the Catholic Lawyers’ Guild.

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