Chancellor, Santa Clara University
Published: April 2009
Remarks by former Joint Venture CEO Becky Morgan presenting the 2009 David Packard Award to Paul L. Locatelli, S.J., at the State of the Valley Conference, Feb. 20, 2009:
I am Becky Morgan and I have been given the privilege of introducing Father Paul Locatelli as we honor him with the David Packard Award for Civic Entrepreneurship.
Paul and I first became acquainted about 20 years ago when I was in Sacramento as a State Senator and he journeyed there to talk with me, and others, about the role of California’s Independent Colleges and Universities in the education of our students. I found him thoughtful and sincere. (We also shared our thoughts later at a memorial service for a dear friend and loyal Californian, B. T Collins)
During my years as CEO of Joint Venture, it was a gift from Paul that he not only served on the Board of Directors, but as Chair of the Finance Committee – using his skills from his accounting days – and on our education initiative advisory board. My admiration for Father Paul Locatelli is heightened by his courage, his energy for his university, his church, his community and his friends, and by his sense of humor.
Paul was the middle child of three sons born to Vincent and Josephine Piccone Locatelli. He grew up in Boulder Creek with his older brother, Albert, and his younger brother, Harry, and they and their families remain close today.
The family owned a lumber company on land that is now part of Big Basin State Park. The young Locatelli grew into a handsome young man who became the first in his family to attend a four-year college when he headed off to UC Berkeley, then transferred to Santa Clara University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in accounting in 1960.
After working as a CPA and a stint in the Army Reserves, Paul entered the Jesuit order in 1962. After he received his doctorate in business administration from the University of Southern California in 1971, he entered the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, where he earned his Master of Divinity and was ordained as a priest in 1974.
Paul joined the Santa Clara faculty that year to teach accounting, rising to associate dean of business and academic vice president before becoming president of the university in 1988, a role in which he served for 20 years.
Last month Paul stepped down from the post to take on an expanded role in Rome as the Secretary of Higher Education for the Society of Jesus. Incoming President Father Michael Engh appointed Paul to his new post as Chancellor, the first to hold the title at the university in 20 years.
Paul’s contributions to the SCU community and the broader Silicon Valley community, together with his own achievements, awards, public service and legacy are unsurpassed. He and the Santa Clara University board have in turn honored many of Silicon Valley’s leaders with honorary degrees.
He has served on numerous boards and associations in Jesuit education, public education, private universities, business and community, arts and culture.
Presently these include the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Catholic Relief Services, the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. He has been a board member with Joint Venture and The Tech Museum of Innovation, where nine years ago he co-founded the annual Tech Awards for technology on behalf of humanity.
Paul has been the recipient of many honors and awards for his service to education and the community, too numerous to mention them all here. He is also a prolific speaker and the author or co-author of many professional articles and papers.
When he finds leisure time he loves to travel internationally, enjoys Broadway plays, reading fiction and non-fiction alike, jogging, photography, and cooking. From pizza, risotto and cioppino to frittata and even beer can chicken, Paul loves preparing great meals for his family and friends. Combining a variety of ingredients to create something special is a metaphor for the way Paul Locatelli lives out his commitment to public service.
In the spirit of Joint Venture, he mixes together people and groups that enrich Silicon Valley and give us a better place to live and a better quality of life. The Packard Award is reserved for those rare individuals who leverage their expertise and relationships to make Silicon Valley a better place, specifically by reaching across boundaries to solve complex problems.
The Packard Award is reserved for those rare individuals who leverage their expertise and relationships to make Silicon Valley a better place, specifically by reaching across boundaries to solve complex problems.
Ladies and gentlemen, I now present the recipient of the 2009 David Packard Award, Father Paul Locatelli.
