Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Joe Leveroni is a staffer for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. (Courtesy Joe Leveroni)

By LiAnna Davis

Joe Leveroni, a 2007 graduate, tells a story that epitomizes the kind of professor Dr. James Lamiell is.

“Recently I was reading Alan Greenspan’s Age of Turbulence,” he says. “In the introduction he speaks of his struggle with the question of free will and the implications that follow if it does exist and if it doesn’t. This was a huge topic that we revisited throughout the year in Dr. Lamiell's class. Without even thinking twice I had dog-eared the page and was at my computer emailing Dr. Lamiell. He responded immediately. He is the type of professor that you email even after graduation.”

Leveroni was an English major but encountered Dr. Lamiell through his Social and Political Thought minor. He was drawn to the program because it seemed to epitomize the Jesuit ideal of educating the whole person by bringing students from across the university together to learn about the social sciences and humanities. A San Francisco native, Leveroni is using the skills he gained in Dr. Lamiell’s class as a staff member for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, researching different issues and bills at her request and then preparing briefs for her.

“The benefit of having classmates from so many different backgrounds was that it provided as many different ways of looking at and, frankly, arguing about the issue at hand,” Leveroni explains. “Being able to keep an open mind on a topic of discussion and being able to look at it from different and sometimes completely unexpected and weird angles is something Dr. Lamiell encouraged and something that definitely helps me with my work with Senator Feinstein.”

Leveroni says Dr. Lamiell was the type of professor whose office hours he looked forward to each week, someone who is approachable for students outside of the social science discipline. He was impressed with Dr. Lamiell’s reputation, both within psychology and among his colleagues, even though his work often criticizes modern principles of the discipline.

“Dr. Lamiell is a revolutionary. He is a rebel in his field. I admire and respect the work he puts into fighting the dominant ideology that exists in the field of psychology,” Leveroni says. “It was pretty clear from the first class that besides being intelligent to the point of being downright intimidating, he was also passionate and determined to inspire the same kind of passion in his students.”

Leveroni was a member of the Dean’s List and the Georgetown Scholar Athlete list, as well as accruing rowing championships and “Crew of the Month” honors during his four years on the men’s heavyweight varsity crew team. He says his personal joys outside of school are the outdoors, especially the beach, his family and friends, and San Francisco.

The Jesuit ideals of teaching the mind, body, and soul equally and doing things for the benefit of something larger than one’s self continue to drive Leveroni’s choices in life.

“Dr. Lamiell's class strengthened my belief that there is more to a person than can be determined or explained scientifically,” he says. “For that very reason, it’s important to recognize that the Jesuits put just as much emphasis on challenging and strengthening the body and soul of a person as they do the mind.”

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