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Thomas College history
Thomas College company history timeline
Keist Business College was established in 1894 when it was founded as a nonsectarian, co-educational college dedicated to career training.
Keist Business College was established in 1894 when it was founded as a nonsectarian, co-educational college dedicated to career training. It was renamed Morgan Business College in 1896.
In 1911, a Peterborough, New Hampshire railroad administrator, John L. Thomas Sr., who himself was a business college graduate, purchased the college and renamed it Morgan-Thomas Business College.
Warden Stone in 1918, found that the dusty environs of Mutuwal were not best suited for his pupils and so shifted the College to the picturesque campus at Mount Lavinia.
The Forbes Building, built in 1932, is one of the original structures on campus and is still in use today.
S. Thomas’ was the first School in Sri Lanka to have a swimming pool, gifted by Doctor R. L. Hayman in 1933.
The University traces its roots to the Universidad de Santo Tomas de Villanueva, founded in 1946 in Havana, Cuba, by American Augustinians with assistance from European Augustinians.
1950: Morgan-Thomas Business College is renamed Thomas Junior College.
Thomas University’s origins date back to 1950 when the Primitive Baptist Church chartered the institution as Birdwood Junior College at the winter home of the Honorable W. Cameron Forbes, former Governor General of the Philippines, Ambassador to Japan and grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
1956: The College moves to the former home of John Ware on Silver Street, which is known as one of Waterville’s largest and finest estates.
1958: The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the right to confer Associate in Arts and Associate in Secretarial Science degrees.
1959: Thomas College is re-chartered as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit institution.
1960 (approx.): Jewell Hall, a men’s dormitory named for Ralph A. Jewell, the first chairman of the Board of Trustees, is dedicated.
St Thomas University was founded in 1961 as Biscayne College by the order of the Augustinian Friars.
1962: A new classroom building is opened and becomes the hub of all academic activity.
1963: The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the right to confer four-year Bachelor of Science in Business Education and Bachelor of Science in Administration degrees.
1964: Mariner Library opens.
In 1965, a theater for lectures and dramatic presentations was constructed, but towards the end of the decade, the college had outgrown its Silver Street campus.
In 1966, the college purchased more than 70 acres (280,000 m) of land next on the Kennebec River.
From the very beginning, the College would rely on the generosity of many friends and benefactors Among the first were oil magnate and philanthropist Henry Salvatori, whose initial $10,000 grant funded the College’s incorporation on October 14, 1968.
The college was accepted as a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and first accredited by the Commission on Colleges in 1968.
1969: The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the right to confer Associate in Science degrees.
1970: A dormitory with accommodations for both men and women in separate wings was opened at the new campus on West River Road.
1972: A student village with townhouse-style accommodations for seniors and juniors is opened at the new Thomas College campus on West River Road.
In 1975, the California Department of Education gave the College power to grant degrees, and on June 7 of that year, the College graduated its first class.
The acquisition substantially reassembles the historic Ferndale Ranch, 131 acres of which were first deeded to the College in 1975.
1976: Thomas College purchases its first computer, a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11.
In October 1977 those plans had to be accelerated when the Claretians informed College officials that the Claretville property had been sold.
Work proceeded at a frantic pace throughout that summer, but in September of 1978, when school was to open, the modular dormitories had not yet arrived.
1983: The College institutes its Internship Program, helping to establish Thomas as a college that graduates students who are prepared for career success.
Through continued growth and development, Biscayne College earned university status in 1984 after the addition of 10 Master degree programs and the opening of the School of Law.
1984: The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the authority to award Master of Business Administration degrees.
1985: Thomas College’s Portland Center is established.
1986: Cyril M. Joly, Jr. is named to replace the retiring Paul G. Jenson as President.
1988: Thomas College purchases its first computer network dedicated to administrative use, and creates its first Local Area Network.
1989: David F. Emery is named to replace Cyril M. Joly, Jr. as interim President, pending selection of Joly’s permanent successor.
1995: Thomas College announces a partnership with Maine InternetWorks (MINT) that makes Thomas and MINT the local internet providers for the Central Maine region.
In 1996 President Dillon commenced efforts to design, fund, and build a permanent chapel to replace the small, temporary one in St Joseph Commons.
In 1997 the College launched its Summer Great Books Program for High School Students which, by giving prospective students a taste of the life of the College, prompted many to apply.
1998: A new phone system is purchased to handle the additional load of student dormitory rooms and to make Thomas Y2K compliant.
1999: Thomas College announces the Thomas College Guaranteed Job Program, the most extensive program of its kind in the nation.
2000: Thomas celebrates the opening of the 300-seat Laurette Ayotte Auditorium.
2001: Thomas College announces a partnership with Bridge Educational Computer Career5 Center of Westbrook, Maine.
2002: A new major in Communications is announced.
2003: The College completes major renovations to the Dining Center and opens Bartlett Hall, a new 100-bed student residence equipped with wireless internet, cable television, lounges, kitchenettes, and computer areas.
Microsoft focuses its examination on the College’s use of its ISA Server 2004 product for security, performance and reporting.
2005: Thomas receives a $1.25 million challenge grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation for construction of a $4.6 million athletic center.
With the College having reached its maximum enrollment in 2005, waiting lists were growing longer each year.
2006: The 38,000 square foot Harold Alfond Athletic Center opens for the first time.
2007: The College purchases an additional 50 acres of land from Eaglewood Estates and near the Kennebec River to support its continued growth in enrollment.
2008: Thomas College opens its Townhouse units, which accommodate 88 students in two-floor, suite style living areas.
Through his leadership and with a lead gift of $10 million from the Dan Murphy Foundation, on March 7, 2009, the College dedicated Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel the crown jewel of the campus.
On April 15, 2009, Doctor Dillon died in a tragic automobile accident while traveling in Ireland for an academic conference.
The Green family of Hobby Lobby fame purchased the Northfield campus in 2009.
Not long after the fall semester began in 2010, founder and senior tutor Mark Berquist was diagnosed with lymphoma.
In March 2011, the Harold Alfond Foundation announced a commitment of $5 million to support the construction of the Harold Alfond Academic Center and the establishment of the Harold and Bibby Alfond Scholarship Fund.
In April 2012, the college announced the inauguration of its fifth president, Laurie G. Lachance, M.B.A.'92.
On May 27, 2012, the HHS Mandate, as it came to be known, was issued.
2012: Laurie Lachance, Thomas M.B.A. ’92, is named Thomas College President.
2013: Thomas College begins construction on the George and Marty Spann Student Commons, a state-of-the-art academic center and library.
2014: The Harold Alfond Academic Center opens – the second academic facility on campus.
In 2014, as campus construction neared an end, the question of expansion arose again, and with it a tremendous opportunity.
On February 7, 2017, the NCF informed Doctor McLean that of the 153 applications it had received, Thomas Aquinas College’s had been accepted.
While the HHS mandate had been a threat to the College’s character as a Catholic institution, the Thomas Fire that broke out on the night of December 4, 2017, was a threat to its very existence.
2017: With a $3.4 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation, the College establishes the Harold Alfond® Institute for Business Innovation.
2017: Thomas College launches a School of Education.
2017: Thomas graduates its first Kiest-Morgan participants.
In 2017, Thomas University opened the Center for Professional Learning offering customized training and certification preparation classes in a variety of areas including contracting, cyber security and project management.
2018: The varsity level Esports program launches.
In 2018, over 700 acres of open space surrounding the California campus went on the market.
The Center for Military Life was established in 2018 to support military personnel and their families’ service throughout the military from pre-enlistment to veteran status.
Students returned to campus in August of 2020, overjoyed to be with their friends and classmates again and committed to abiding by the restrictions necessary to keep the College open.
2020: The College announces it will offer online graduate degree programs for the first time.
2020: President Lachance launches the Presidential Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Social Justice.
2020: The College is awarded $1.3 Million TRIO Student Support Services grant.
In the winter of 2020, the novel coronavirus began to sweep across the United States.
2021: Thomas College announces completion of the “Guaranteeing the Future Campaign” at $30 million, exceeding the goal of $27 million.
© 2022 Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors.
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Thomas College competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bates College | 1855 | $110.0M | 1,309 | 51 |
| Champlain College | 1878 | $22.0M | 1,514 | 7 |
| Emmanuel College | 1919 | $95.2M | 1,100 | 1 |
| Suffolk University | 1906 | $220.7M | 178 | 57 |
| Wentworth Institute of Technology | 1904 | $128.2M | 1,475 | 40 |
| Bryant University | 1863 | $160.0M | 265 | - |
| Saint Joseph's College of Maine | 1912 | $26.0M | 647 | 47 |
| Endicott College | 1939 | $150.5M | 1,471 | - |
| Western New England University | 1919 | $105.7M | 1,232 | - |
| University of Massachusetts Boston | 1964 | $59.0M | 3,647 | 154 |
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