Joseph T. Doyle, CPA ’69

As a man who spent his life navigating change’s shifting currents, Joseph T. Doyle, CPA ’69, is more familiar with it than most. He credits some of his considerable success to his willingness to embrace the blessings of change and break through its barriers.

“When [the] opportunity presented itself and made sense, I took it, and it really helped my career,” Joseph says about his professional life that included executive-level stints at Pete Marwick Mitchell, General Dynamics and Westinghouse. His professional life had him changing cities nearly every three years for 25 years. “They weren’t afraid to ask me to move,” he says with a laugh.

Joseph and his wife, Judy, made a gift of a life insurance policy to endow The St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J., chair in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. They did so to honor the legacy of Bellarmine, a theologian whose encounters with Galileo during the heliocentric controversy struck a chord with Joseph.

“[Bellarmine] knew the Church had to continue to be supported. He knew the churchmen were definitely wrong and needed to change, and he was a vehicle for that change,” Joseph says. “Managing change was a theme of my career.”

An Erdenheim, Pennsylvania, native, Joseph was a promising student at Bishop McDevitt High School. After his parents’ marriage ended, his grades suffered and he began to see basketball as an easier route to college. During his senior year, however, Joseph was stricken with pericarditis, an infection of the sac surrounding the heart. His condition kept him rotating from the bench to the court and back for the next two years.

After rededicating himself academically, Joseph was accepted at The University of Scranton, where he chose to study accounting for practical reasons.

“We were very poor,” Joseph says of his family’s finances growing up. “I didn’t know any accountants who were poor.”

Studying under accounting professors John McLean ’40, Joseph Zandarski, Ph.D. ’51 and attorney Daniel Houlihan left an indelible impression upon him.

“They were role models with a capital ‘R,’” Joseph says.

He also struck up a friendship with the Rev. Joseph A. Rock, S.J., who, at the time, was academic vice president of the University. Joseph went out for the basketball team and played for a few weeks before a physical exam exiled him from the court.

During the summers, Joseph worked overtime in a box factory to support his expenses. During his junior year, he began dating Judy Hines, who worked in Scranton’s financial aid office. The two became engaged shortly after graduation and were married in April 1970.

After a 17-year stint at Peat Marwick Mitchell, where he rose to partner-in-charge of its Pittsburgh office, Joseph spent eight years as an executive at General Dynamics before joining the Allison Engine Company, and, later, Westinghouse. Ultimately, he struck out on his own as a consultant.

Along the way, the couple welcomed two adopted (Beth and Kevin) and two biological (Colleen and Mark ’07) children into their family. Those children blessed Joseph and Judy with seven grandchildren. Today, the couple resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Joseph never forgot his roots, and he often focused on creating opportunities for others. He endowed The Judith A. Doyle Scholarship at the University to honor his wife, Judy, and to help future students in financial need. He also created The Mary and Dana Silvon Memorial Scholarship to honor Judy’s sister, Mary, and her daughter, Dana, who both died of sudden illnesses.

And, as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees in the mid-aughts, he helped guide Scranton through a period of rapid change, something Bellarmine would have appreciated.

“[Bellarmine’s] assignment was a lot more difficult than the ones I’ve had, but he didn’t shrink from it,” Joseph says. “We have that in common.”

Including The University of Scranton in your estate plan can be a powerful way for you to honor a loved one’s memory or to simply demonstrate your support for our students. Contact Carol Maculloch, MBA, CFRE at 570-941-7799 or plannedgiving@scranton.edu to learn more about creating your Scranton legacy.