Speaker Biographies

Tom Thibodeau, M.A.

Serving

Tom Thibodeau is a member of the Viterbo University faculty in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy and a member of the graduate faculty. He has been appointed Distinguished Professor of Servant Leadership, the first person at Viterbo to hold that post. A popular teacher and presenter, Thibodeau is the recipient of Viterbo’s Teacher of the Year award. He is also the director of Viterbo’s Master of Arts in Servant Leadership program.

Thibodeau earned a B.A. in psychology and English at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. and an M.A. in human and religious studies at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn.. He is a doctoral candidate at the Consortium of Theological Schools, St. Paul, Minn. Thibodeau has served as the director of youth ministry at Mary, Mother of the Church Parish for more than 20 years and is co-director of the Diocesan Pastoral Education Program in La Crosse. In addition, he has served on a number of community boards and committees and is a co-founder and active community member at Place of Grace, a local Catholic Worker House.

Thibodeau’s past speaking engagements include: International Habitat for Humanity, Lands' End Corporation, Archdiocese of Portland, Diocese of Green Bay, University of Louisville, Wisconsin School Nurses, Tri-State Family and Children’s Leadership Conference, Richland County Mental Health, Veterans Administration, Tomah VA Medical Center, Gundersen Lutheran Health System, Wisconsin State Disabilities Conference, La Crosse Advertising Club, Council of Small Businesses, Wisconsin State Plumbing Inspectors, and the Osseo, Minn. School District.

Aurelie Hagstrom, S.T.D., S.T.L.

Learning

Aurelie Hagstrom is associate professor of theology at Providence College in Rhode Island. She earned a B.A. in theology and philosophy from Providence College, an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Boston College, a S.T.L. and S.T.D. in dogmatic theology, from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy.

Hagstrom is the author of A Pilgrim’s Guide to Rome and the Holy Land for the Third Millennium, with Irena Vaisvilaite (Allen, Texas: Thomas More Press, 1999) and The Vocation and Mission of the Laity (San Francisco: Catholic Scholars Press, 1994). She has also published numerous articles on the mission and theology of laity. Her research interests include the theology of laity in the Church, the ancient tradition of Roman pilgrimage, the theological and philosophical concept of hospitality, and the theology of ecology.

Hagstrom’s teaching philosophy includes: “In teaching and learning, being intellectually hospitable means being open to the different voices and idioms of others as potential agents for mutual enhancement, not just oppositional conflict. Hospitality in the classroom includes intellectual generosity and reciprocity and it promises the possible transformation and fulfillment of both teacher and student-host and guest…And when committed relationships of mutual welcome between guests and hosts are realized, these can be moments of grace.”

Kent M. Keith, Ed.D.

Leading

Dr. Kent M. Keith is the chief executive officer of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. He has been an attorney, a state government official, a high tech park developer, a university president, a YMCA executive, and a full-time speaker and author. Keith earned a B.A. in government from Harvard University, an M.A. in philosophy and politics from Oxford University in England, a Certificate in Japanese from Waseda University in Japan, a J.D. from the University of Hawaii, and an Ed.D. from the University of Southern California. He is a Rhodes Scholar. He has received honorary doctorates from Chaminade University of Honolulu and Tusculum College of Greeneville, Tenn.

Keith is known internationally as the author of The Paradoxical Commandments, which he first published in 1968 in a booklet for student leaders. During the past seven years he has published four books related to the commandments, including Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments, which became a national bestseller and was translated into 17 languages. He is also the author of The Case for Servant Leadership, published in 2008 by the Greenleaf Center. Over the years, Keith has given more than 900 conference papers, presentations, and seminars. He has been featured on the front page of The New York Times and in People magazine, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Family Circle. He has appeared on dozens of television shows and more than 100 radio programs in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia.