By Lian Bunny
Assistant News Editor
David DiMattio, dean of Clare College, will leave St. Bonaventure effective March 3. He has accepted the position as the dean of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at Montgomery County Community College in eastern Pennsylvania.
DiMattio, ’91, has been a part of St. Bonaventure since he was an undergraduate student. He said the Bonaventure community is something he will miss the most, because he is so familiar with it.
“It’s a real, comfortable environment that I know is unique, because I was an undergraduate here,” DiMattio said. “I am well aware of what non-Bonaventure is like, and this is a very unique atmosphere, and I am a Bonnie at heart.”
DiMattio began teaching science at Bonaventure in 1999. After, he became the coordinator of two areas of Clare College, Inquiry Into the Natural World and University Forum.
He also contributed to the summer study abroad program in Italy. This opportunity allows Bonaventure students to travel to Perugia for five weeks and take as many as seven credits.
When the position for dean of Clare College became available, some of DiMattio’s colleagues encouraged him to consider it. He formally became the dean of Clare College in 2005.
DiMattio will be missed as a friend, colleague, teacher and adviser to many, according to various professors at the university.
“When working with him I have been impressed with his ability to get things done, his savvy about curriculum and administrative matters, his understanding of and dedication to Clare College and its place in a Bonaventure education,” philosophy professor Patrick Dooley said. “(He is) a very able faculty colleague and a fine dean of Clare College—his leaving is Bonaventure’s loss.”
Gerald Boersma, theology professor, said he admires DiMattio’s dedication to the Clare College program.
“Dean DiMattio’s vision of Clare College is that it should serve as a foundation to our entire education at Bona’s in order to cultivate what (John Henry) Newman called ‘a philosophical habit of mind,’” Boersma said. “For him, Clare College is not an addendum to our respective majors, but the framework around which our various studies coalesce within a shared Catholic Franciscan tradition.”
Andrew Church, a freshman physics major, has DiMattio as his academic advisor.
“He gave me some really good advice, and a lot of the stuff he did in grad school is related to things I might be interested in,” Church said. “So he had that first-hand experience, which is useful. I’m really sad he’s leaving, but I wish him the best of luck. I’m sure he will succeed.”
DiMattio chose to leave Bonaventure because of his dedication to science.
“My personal hope is that my new job allows me to find the best of both worlds in the sense that my degree is in physics, but it also keeps me vested in the administrative role that I’ve began at Clare College here,” DiMattio said. “So, I would hope that I would be comfortable with the move that I am making. Time will tell.”
The new dean of Clare College is yet to be chosen by the administration, but DiMattio said hopes to be a part of the selection process. DiMattio also offered advice for his eventual successor.
“Never forget that they are working for the faculty and students,” DiMattio said. “The faculty is the blood of Clare College.”
