Fr. Andrew McAlpin, O.P. (2024–present) Father Andrew McAlpin, OP became pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue University, effective July 1, 2024. Growing up in Minnesota and after graduating from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, he entered the Dominicans in 2003. His novitiate year was in Denver, and his studentate years were spent in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was ordained in 2009.
Fr. Thomas McDermott, O.P. (2020–2024) Father Thomas McDermott, OP became pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue University, effective July 1, 2020. Growing up in northeastern Nebraska and after graduating from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, he entered the Dominicans in 1977. His novitiate year was in Denver, and his studentate years were spent in Dubuque, Iowa, and St. Louis, where he was ordained in 1983. Father Tom's first assignment in Lagos, Nigeria lasted 18 years in various capacities, including parochial vicar, pastor, prior, and prior provincial. Studying at the Angelicum in Rome, Father Tom received a doctorate in spiritual theology in 2005 with his dissertation on Catherine of Siena. After 22 years abroad, Father Tom returned to the States to teach at Aquinas Institute of Theology and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, eventually serving as its director of spiritual formation. In 2012, Father Tom became pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in River Forest, IL where he also serves as a Catholic chaplain at the Cook County Jail. He is a writer and editor of several books about Catherine of Siena and author of an introduction to Catholic spirituality book titled "Filled with All the Fullness of God." His hobbies include reading, history, and beekeeping. Father Tom's first encounter with Purdue University was attendance at a campus conference as a high school student, and his closest Boilermaker connection is Varro Tyler, his mother's cousin, who served Purdue as the dean of the School of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences; executive vice president for academic affairs; and then Lilly Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy until his retirement in 1996.
Fr. Patrick Baikauskas, O.P. (2008–2020) Father Patrick Baikauskas, OP was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas in January 2008 and became pastor and director of campus ministry in 2010. He was born the youngest of four boys in
Crete, Illinois, a small town near the
Indiana border. He has a
BA in
political science from
Bradley University, and a history working in government under three
Illinois governors. When he chose to join the priesthood in 2001, he was accepted to the
Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, and studied at the
Aquinas Institute of Theology until 2007. Since beginning his Dominican life at St. Tom's, he has seen the beginning of several new ministries. Father Patrick has traveled with teams across the country helping relief efforts in the South and Appalachia through
Habitat for Humanity and other community based organizations, as well as to Haiti and Cuba. He is active in fundraising for the Greater Lafayette Hunger Hike, and Purdue's Polar Plunge, for which he was the top fundraiser for 2013. Fr. Patrick was selected to be one of
Pope Francis's Missionaries of Mercy in 2016. Fr. Patrick stated: "God’s love and mercy are greater than we possibly can imagine. When I first heard about it, I thought it would be a wonderful thing in recognition of what we have done to promote the sacrament of
reconciliation. I truly had no idea that I would be one of a mere 125 from the United States."
Fr. Daniel Davis, O.P. (2000–2008) Fr. Davis was the first Dominican Friar to become pastor of St. Tom's after the ministry was entrusted to the Province of St. Albert the Great, often referred to as the "Central Province" of Dominicans. by Bishop Higi. ==Community outreach==