January 05, 2009
Thomas ('64UC, '01HON) and Paula McInerney possess a great deal
of love: love for their family, for the philanthropic work they do,
for the lives they are living and, of course, for alma
mater. But there is a group of young ladies who maintain a
special place in their hearts and who have them utterly and
completely enthralled — their seven beautiful granddaughters, all
younger than the age of four. “The babies,” Paula says, smiling.
“They are wonderful.”
The McInerney grandchildren have been born into a legacy not
only of great affection, but also one of integrity, commitment and
generosity. Those same qualities have been passed on to the
McInerney’s five children and the couple also exhibits those
attributes to the many people whose lives they touch personally,
professionally and through their altruism. While both are
accomplished leaders of industry and busy with everything that such
success entails, they still excel at the balance needed to make
their lives run smoothly. “They are wonderful parents and amazing
grandparents,” says their daughter,
Amy Owens. “One of the greatest things about them is that they can
be so many different things to so many people and do it all
well.”
They certainly fill many roles at St. John’s, where they are
loyal benefactors, trusted friends and, in the case of Tom, a proud
alumnus. He is currently chair of the Board of Trustees and has
been tireless in his efforts as chairman of the advisory board of
the Rome campus. As a trustee, he has been an esteemed member of
the board for more than seven years, serving in various capacities
including chairman of the Fiscal
Resource Management Committee and member of the Executive
Committee.
His business acumen has been a boon to the University Investment
Portfolio which realized an annual return of 15.6% for the three
year period ending June 30, 2006, placing it in the top 10% of the
701 institutions participating in the 2006 National Association of
College and University Business Officers Endowment Study. The
couple has also supported various initiatives at the University
including the Student Managed Investment Fund, the Institute for
Writing Studies, the Rome Scholarship Fund, Taffner Field House and
St. Thomas More Church.
Paula has embraced her husband’s passion for the University. A
native of the Bronx, her parents moved first to Westchester before
settling in Connecticut. After graduating from Manhattanville
College, she later completed an MBA at New York University. Her
career has included stints as chief of staff to the director of
operations at Dean Witter Reynolds, managing director and a member
of the Business Council at Bankers Trust Company and chief
operating officer at Oppenheimer Funds.
Education has been key for both of the McInerneys and they are
huge proponents of higher education being available to all who
desire it. “Our generation was the first to graduate,” Paula says.
“To be given such an opportunity is really amazing and it’s
important that others be given that same opportunity.” The couple
has cemented their closeness with St. John’s through active
involvement.
The couple was thrilled last year when the Diocese of Brooklyn
transferred control of St. John’s Bread & Life to the
University as they are also both very involved with the
organization which provides an array of social services including a
soup kitchen, food pantry and outreach programs. Paula serves on
the Board of Members which has responsibility for oversight of the
St. John’s Bread & Life board. The McInerneys became involved
several years ago after Rev. James J. Maher, C.M. '84C invited them
to sponsor a family. Now, every Christmas season, members of the
McInerney family can be found volunteering at St. John’s Bread
& Life packing gifts and holiday meals for those in need. “We
do it every year,” Paula says. “We have lots of family members who
join us and when our grandchildren are a little older they will be
coming as well. It’s such a joyful event as well as a good reminder
of how fortunate we are.“
For several years, they have also devoted themselves to work
with several other worthy organizations including the Diocese of
Brooklyn/Queens Futures in Education Foundation, the Robin Hood
Foundation and the Inner-City Scholarship Fund (ICSF) which helps
to provide funding for schools under the auspices of the
Archdiocese of New York in some of the poorest neighborhoods in
Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island.
“We both feel very, very strongly about education,” Tom says.
“Particularly for people who are economically disadvantaged because
it’s the only way to break out of
that cycle.”
For that reason, they have been steadfast in offering whatever
help they can to ICSF, from volunteering with the students, getting
art and music classes added back to the curriculum and making sure
the facilities are maintained and improved. Paula also serves on
the board of Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service
in East Harlem and was instrumental in construction of their new,
five story building. “Sr. Judy
Garson is just amazing and the work that they do [in Harlem] is
wonderful,” Paula says. “You see these incredible people who
dedicate their lives every single day and do it with such
generosity of spirit. Then you see them doing it in conditions that
are just appalling and you think you have to do something about
this. You have to fix it in the small ways that you can so that the
people are respected, the guests are respected, and the staff is
respected.”
That shared vision of service has been evident from the start of
the McInerney’s relationship. The pair met after being introduced
by a mutual friend, a headhunter who was trying to recruit Paula to
another company. She wasn’t interested in the job but he had
something else to offer. “He said, ‘I know this fellow, Tom
McInerney, and you two would be perfect for each other’ which is an
interesting comment I guess coming from a headhunter,” Paula
recalls. They both worked in the same building in lower Manhattan
and although it took a while to arrange a meeting, they were soon
having lunches, which then became dinners and led to matrimony.
“One of the nice things about where we are in life now is that
we spend an incredible amount of time together,” Paula says. “In a
wonderful, wonderful way, we are partners,” he says. “We are
partners in St. John’s, we’re partners in philanthropy, and we’re
partners in business.” “And of course with the children and the
grandchildren,” she adds to which Tom jokes that in the family
structure his wife is “the senior partner.” “They like me, but they
idolize you,” he says, laughing.
“We have wonderful children and we are blessed with these
incredible grandchildren who change day by day and week by week,”
Paula says. “We are so lucky that we are healthy and able to
participate in their lives as much as we can.” It is the
realization of those blessings that fuels their genuine desire to
give back. “We’ve been so fortunate, not just financially, but also
in our children and the lives that they are leading and that our
grandchildren are healthy,” Tom says. “You put all that together
and if you don’t feel like you should be giving something back then
you don’t have a heart.”