Looking to the Future with Villanova's Strategic Plan

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The Rev. Paul W. Galetto, O.S.A. , ’78 A&S
“It’s obvious that Villanova is
a very dynamic place with a
lot of good things happening.
My initial reaction is that it’s
going to be a great ride, and
I’m glad to be part of it.”
When he was a high school
student at St. Augustine
College Preparatory School
in Richland, N.J., the Rev.
Paul W. Galetto, O.S.A., S.T.B., Ph.D.,
’78 A&S, ’85 G.S. thought he wanted to
be a priest. Yet “I wasn’t sure, so I thought
I would attend a non-Catholic college to
confirm I was on the right path,” he
recalls. Though he had a good experience
at Bucknell University, by the end of his
freshman year, “I realized that I wanted to
join the Augustinians.”
He transferred to Villanova, where he
majored in English. “I was so impressed by
the English department at Villanova.
There were so many great teachers,” he
recalls. “One was Father John Hagen. I
took every course of his I could get.”
Today, Father Galetto is president of
his high school alma mater and was
recently named to Villanova University’s
Board of Trustees.
“I’m excited about being on the
Board,” he says. “It’s obvious that
Villanova is a very dynamic place with a
lot of good things happening. My initial
reaction is that it’s going to be a great ride,
and I’m glad to be part of it.”
Father Galetto brings to the Board
strong leadership skills in the field of education.
Since he became president of St.
Augustine College Preparatory School in
1998, enrollment there has climbed from
235 to 700. Academically during the same
period, the school’s SAT averages have
risen to one of the highest in New Jersey,
and its Advanced Placement course offerings
have quintupled from 3 to 15.
Father Galetto has also been an
adjunct professor at Villanova and at
Catholic University of America, and from
2007 to 2009 was executive director of the
Augustinian Secondary Education Association.
He has served on the Board of
Directors of both Merrimack College and
Malvern Preparatory School. He is also
the author of the book Building the Foundations
of Faith (National Catholic Educational
Association, 1996).
In the spirit of St. Augustine’s famous
quote, “The world is a book, and those
who do not travel read only a page,”
Father Galetto has traveled around the
world. He spent three years studying in
Rome and is fluent in Italian and Spanish.
This summer, he is taking a group of 30
students to Greece.
“I believe travel is the best education
there is because it helps a person see
things from a different perspective,” he
says. “It is important that people visit
other cultures and countries to learn as
much as they can.”
He has also done missionary work in
South Africa and Nigeria. “I’m looking
at the possibility of going to Haiti this
summer to see if I can do anything
there,” he says. “I believe everyone should
give back.”
10 Villanova Magazine