Stories

The Ignatian Center and the SCU community mourn the passing of Andre Delbecq, longtime member of the SCU community, Senior Fellow in the Ignatian Center, and an Ignatian companion on the journey. Below is a message sent from University President, Fr. Michael Engh, S.J. to the SCU community on October 13.

Dear Members of the University Community,

With deep sadness I share the news that André Delbecq, Senior Fellow for the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education and Professor of Management, died yesterday, October 12. His death is a great loss for his loved ones and the University community that he served so generously for nearly forty years. We join with André’s wife, Mili, his family, and all those who mourn his loss.

André’s long and distinguished career at Santa Clara University began as Dean of the Leavey School of Business, a position he held from 1979-1989. His various appointments included Director of the Institute for Spirituality of Organization Leadership, Faculty Senate President, Thomas J. and Kathleen L. McCarthy University Professor, and Senior Fellow of the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education.

André received numerous awards and recognition for teaching, scholarship and leadership, including President’s Recognition Awards, Extraordinary Achievement Awards, Dean’s Awards for Exceptional Teaching, Faculty Senate Professor of the Year, and most recently the Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship. Leadership in his profession earned him appointments as the Eighth Dean of Fellows of the Academy of Management, President of both the Western and Midwest Academies of Management, Executive Director of the Organization Behavior Teaching Society; a listing in Who’s Who in the Management Sciences; The Distinguished Service to Management, Spirituality and Religion Award from the Academy of Management; and an honorary doctorate from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology.

Notable among André’s contributions are his teaching, service, and scholarship in leadership spirituality. True to the Ignatian charism that animated him, he applied his understanding and practice of prayer, meditation and reflection to organizational leadership. He played a foundational role in developing and shaping the field of Spirituality and Business Leadership. At Santa Clara, he founded the Ignatian Faculty Forum in 2002, and for almost 15 years he led the Forum in helping to engage faculty in reflective discernment and to discover Ignatian spirituality as it is lived by faculty. In 2013, he founded and designed the Senior Leadership Forum, a program that invites those in senior leadership at the University to explore Jesuit higher education and to reflect on their own calling as leaders in higher education.

Through his generous service, exceptional teaching, professional expertise, and deep spirituality, André earned the immense respect of his students and colleagues on campus and in his profession. While we have lost a good friend, a remarkable University citizen, and an Ignatian companion on the journey, we are thankful for André’s presence in our community and celebrate his life.

Information about a funeral Mass and memorial service will be shared as soon as details are arranged.

Notes of condolence may be sent to André's wife, Mili:

c/o Leavey School of Business
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053

Please keep André and his family in your prayers. May he rest in peace.

Sincerely,

Michael E. Engh, S.J.
President