St. Francis of Assisi Parish's pastoral coordinator named one of Utah Valley magazine's Fab 40

Courtesy photo/ Dave Blackhurst, Utah Valley magazine

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For her photo as a Utah Valley Fab 40, Julie Boerio-Goates was asked to bring a picture that represents her life. She chose an illustration from St. John's Illustrated Bible, "To The Ends Of The Earth," which praises God and all of his creation. The pattern on the right is reminiscent of a network of molecules she studied, called zeolites.

OREM—Julie Boerio-Goates has filled many roles in her life – daughter, sister, student, wife, mother, professor and minister, to name a few – but the one that may amuse her the most is the title recently given to her by Utah Valley magazine: one of Utah Valley’s Fab 40.

The magazine accepts nominations for the award throughout the year. This year, those recognized also include a family with three small children, a 13-year-old videographer with almost 10 million hits on social media, and an 84-year-old Orem native who has been a part of the Boy Scout program for 45 years.

“I think it’s a hoot,” Boerio-Goates said of the title. “I’m really your stereotypical chemist: I don’t do makeup or paint my nails. I don’t worry about any of that stuff. I’m just rather un-glamorous.”

Boerio-Goates grew up in western Pennsylvania, literally in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. She and her fraternal twin Bibiana spent many summer hours in the swimming pool and on the tennis courts built by Fred Rogers’ family for the community. (These days Bibiana Boerio is a Democratic candidate for the 14th congressional district).

Boerio-Goates attended Catholic schools throughout her early life and graduated from Seton Hill College (now Seton Hill University) in Greensburg, Pa. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Seton Hill, she went on to complete a PhD in chemistry at the University of Michigan, and post-doctorate work at Argonne National Laboratory.

As a junior at Seton Hill, Boerio-Goates was chosen to work at IBM in Vermont. While there, she met Steven Goates, a Mormon student from Brigham Young University. The two dated for three years before deciding to marry in 1976, which they did in a Catholic ceremony in the church at Seton Hill.

In 1982 the couple moved to Utah so they could be near at least one set of grandparents while they raised their children: Sara, a legislative policy director for the Women’s Health Network; and James, who graduates from BYU in psychology this week.

Boerio-Goates, who says she hyphenated her name only to avoid confusion because she, her husband and her father-in-law were all chemists, joined the faculty at BYU that same year, becoming the first female instructor in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. She went on to be tenured, and then became a full professor in the college, teaching chemistry and biochemistry for 30 years.

In 2005 she received the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty award from the university.

A member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Boerio-Goates has always been involved in the parish’s and the diocese’s ministries. She served on the Diocesan Pastoral Council under both Bishop George H. Niederauer and Bishop John C. Wester, and was the chair of the Hospitality Committee for the 2011 Southwest Liturgical Conference. She was also instrumental in bringing the director of the Vatican observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno, to Juan Diego Catholic High School for a presentation when he was invited to speak at BYU. At St. Francis of Assisi, she has been a member of the parish council and director of liturgy.

When the new parish church, which was dedicated in 2012, was being built, the pastor asked Boerio-Goates to chair the building committee. Fr. David Bittmenn then asked her to be the liaison on the project because she had been involved in the process when BYU constructed its new chemistry building.

So Boerio-Goates went to BYU’s administration and told them she wanted to do a service mission to help get the church built. They laughed and then gave her a three-year reduced contract. Before long, she was spending many hours each week at the parish, and loving it. As a result, when she retired from BYU in 2015, Boerio-Goates became pastoral coordinator for the parish. She also completed the four-year formation program to become certified as a lay ecclesial minister.

She still spends many hours each week at the church, performing a variety of functions: coordinating multiple schedules, managing the facility, working with the liturgical ministers and teaching RCIA. She helps organize many of the events that take place at the church.

The hours she puts in are not much different than chemist’s hours, and she has found her calling, she said. “I see myself as a facilitator; as a person who builds bridges between communities.”

One way she does this is helping to coordinate several concerts each year at the church by different choral groups. The parish has opened the building to groups dedicated to performing sacred music. Recently, the BYU Singers, Concert Choir and Baroque Ensemble performed a Vivaldi concert there; more than 1,000 people attended.

“Of course, 90 percent of them were LDS,” Boerio-Goates said. “But that’s 900 people who came, many of whom stayed and asked questions afterwards. Breaking down those barriers is an important component of what I do.”

Boerio-Goates loves Utah and the grassroots, down-to-earth feel of the Church here.

“As Fr. Dave often says, we’re a mission church here in Utah,” she said. “When you are, you have different perspectives.”

Boerio-Goates was nominated by several of her former students for the Fab 40 honor. She speculated that one reason they may have done so was because she was respectful of all faiths in her classes and often taught of the symbiotic relationship between faith and science.

The magazine’s Fab 40 theme this year was adventure, which is fitting.

“To be the first female science professor at BYU you have to have a sense of adventure,” Boerio-Goates said.