Tribute to two past presidents, Fabio Tobon and Tom Bausch

As we start this VIII World Union Congress it seems fitting to consider the two men to whom it meant so much.

Fabio Tobon, a past World Union President from 1997 to 2003, who was the president of the organising committee for this World Congress which is being held here on his territory; and Tom Bausch who would have been the president of this Congress marking the end of his four year tenure as President of the World Union from 2009 until now.

Both of these great leaders were in many ways unassuming people who took on the role of president because they happened to be the right people at the right time and both put the World Union before their local loyalties.

Fabio took over the reins as President from John Bowie who was responsible for separating the president’s role from being the organiser of the following Congress from the running of the World Union. This enabled Fabio, when he took over, to concentrate on bringing WUJA up to date and for the first time ensuring that those people who stood for election to the WUJA Council would realise that they had a responsibility and were not just there for the glory. Fabio allocated work to each member of the council and constantly encouraged each member to complete and report back on what they had done. He ensured that there was a constant link back to the Society by arranging through Fr General’s delegate, (at the time Fr Duminoco SJ), that he would meet with him at least once each year to discuss the work of WUJA and how it fitted in with the aims of the Society. As his vice-president I was included in these meetings and can vouch for the amount of good which Fabio achieved from them. We always came away inspired from Fr General’s input and the interest that he showed in the work of the Jesuit Alumni.

These meetings led to the historic meeting in Rome when the Council met for the first time between Congresses and over several days produced the World Union statutes. This was perhaps Fabio’s greatest achievement during his time as president. That and the work he did in continuing John Bowie’s work of spreading awareness of WUJA to a greater more widespread audience.

When Tom took over the Presidency in Bujumbura, Burundi in 2009 he brought a new approach. He continued the work of ensuring that the World Union Council should meet as regularly as possible but also introduced, with the help of his vice-president, some modern technology so that those who were unable to be physically present could still participate through telephone conference facilities. He was also responsible for increasing awareness of the World Union in North America, a task he had started even before he became president.

My most overriding memory of Tom was his absolute patience. It didn’t matter if things went precisely according to plan or not, he would slowly guide it through so that the objectives were always achieved. During my own presidency I can recall his encouragement when things were not going as I had expected and the advice he was able to give from his wide experience of the world. Advice which was never thrust upon you but given freely when asked for. Tom was very much a true Ignatian, a man for others, and this was shown not just in his work with WUJA but also with all his other voluntary and professional commitments.

I have taken the following piece of text (with some minor changes) from the website of Marquette University where Tom was an Emeritus Dean. Tom was Dean of the college from 1978 to 1993 and continued to teach as a professor of management at Marquette until 2010. He was an avid proponent of Catholic social teaching in business and management and had a distinguished career centred on working with Jesuit universities and the Society of Jesus throughout the world. Among many other leadership positions Tom also served as president of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, co-founder and executive director of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools and national president of Christian Life Community.

In spite of all these commitments, Tom’s real passion in life was his family and I had the pleasure of staying with him and Bernadine, Bernie, in 2008. As one of his son’s Peter, said “My dad wanted everyone to enjoy life as much as he did.”
At this sad moment for WUJA our greatest tribute to these two men will be to make this Congress the success which they had both worked for and to offer it up for them. At the same time our thoughts and prayers should also go out to their families who have lost two such wonderful people.