The Thomas F. Tierney ’32 Trust recently bequeathed $435,000 to Providence College. The bequest shall create an endowed scholarship fund in his memory to provide assistance to students based on financial need and academic merit.

In a dual gesture of generosity, Mr. Tierney donated a similar sum to his high school alma mater, St. Raphael Academy of Pawtucket, R.I.  

A loyal alumnus who contributed faithfully to the College and who believed strongly in a liberal arts education, Mr. Tierney earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from PC. The lifelong Pawtucket resident, who died last August, was a highly respected public school teacher in that city. He taught for 43 years, including from 1952-78 at Tolman High School, where he instructed students in Latin, Greek, German, and the Classics.

“Thomas Tierney was a gracious and thoughtful man who was proud of his profession as a high school teacher,” said Joseph P. Brum ’68, special assistant to the president for development projects. “He was very dedicated, learned, and articulate. It is fitting that Tom’s wonderful legacy to Providence College and St. Raphael’s will, in a sense, continue his lifelong commitment to provide educational opportunities for students.”

The attorney for the Thomas F. Tierney Trust and a close friend of the late benefactor, Joseph B. “Jay” Carty, Jr., Esq. ’69, said Mr. Tierney was “a real gentleman and a true professional.” Carty’s father, Joseph B. Carty, Sr., Esq. ’35, and Mr. Tierney grew up across the street from each other in Pawtucket. After Joseph Sr. died in 1989, the younger Carty and Mr. Tierney would meet every other week to listen to classical music and to discuss issues of the day, including church affairs, politics, and the benefits of a liberal arts education.

“What Tom valued most about PC was the liberal arts curriculum,” said Carty. He recalled that Mr. Tierney often stated that the three most important elements, or Trivium, of a liberal arts education were grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and that ancillary to these academic disciplines was the quadrivium, which consisted of mathematics, geometry, music, and cosmology.

“Tom would tell me,” added Carty, “that because we were both the beneficiaries of a liberal arts education, we should always stress the importance of those fundamental disciplines. Tom loved learning and he inspired many of his students to pursue a liberal arts education and often recommended Providence College to an undecided student.”