Dr. James S. Gyurke said the strong liberal arts education and great role models at Saint Vincent College provided him with the confidence to enter a business environment.
"I never had a business course as an undergraduate but I was confident that I could succeed in the business world because Saint Vincent provided me a strong foundation in critical thinking, ethics and problem solving," said Dr. Gyurke.
Saint Vincent did a great job of presenting multiple sides of issues because of the philosophy, religion and humanities classes.
Saint Vincent was a natural fit for him after graduating from Geibel High School in Connellsville.
"My family had a lot of ties to Saint Vincent. My grandfather was part of the fundraising activities that helped build some of the college buildings. And my mother, father and grandfather were very close to Benedictine Archabbots Donovan and Leopold Krul," Dr. Gyurke added.
Another role model was Father Douglas Nowicki, now archabbot.
"Archabbot Douglas was my academic adviser and he constantly encouraged me to pursue educational opportunities outside the classroom. He told me a good education was more than what happened in the classroom. Look for ways to go beyond where you are comfortable."
Dr. Gyurke went on to earn his doctorate at Loyola University in Chicago. He completed his internship at Prentice Women and Children’s Hospital at Northwestern University and served a pre-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics at Evanston Hospital. Upon graduation he worked as a child psychologist at Polyclinic Medical Center in Harrisburg.
He accepted a position as the Project Director for the Bayley Scales Infant Development Program at Psychological Corp., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., San Antonio, Texas in 1983. In 1999, he was named Vice President for marketing and sales for Psychological Assessment Resources, Florida.
He and his wife, Rachelle (SHC’78), live in Tampa, Florida, and are the parents of two sons, Joshua, a sophomore at Florida State and Nathanael, a senior at Tampa Jesuit.