Father Raymond Thomas Aquinas Collins, O. P.

Father Collins came to Providence College in 1959 after teaching at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C. A 1938 graduate of Providence College, he pursued advanced biblical studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem and received his doctorate in theology from the University of Ottawa. Fr. Collins became Director in 1964 and under his direction the School of Theology became a full-time, full-scale graduate department with all the demands and responsibilities that work entails. The department became open to all graduate students, lay and clerical, men and women, who met its requirements. He also opened up the teaching staff to include non-Dominicans and non-Catholics, which brought several eminent professors to the school. Fr. Collin’s other outstanding contribution to the Department of Religious Studies at Providence College was the establishment of a strong biblical program within the department, which led to an M.A. in Biblical Studies. Father Collins was a full-time member of the college faculty for 27 years who retired as professor emeritus of theology in 1986. When Father Collins passed away in 2000, then President of Providence College, Father Smith noted that Father Collins was dedicated teacher and compassionate priest, he will be long remembered for his legendary love for sacred scripture. Remembered longer still by the students he inspired was his ability to make the scriptures live and become part of their lives.