Boston College. Office of the President.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. Edward I. Devitt, SJ, served as president from 1891 to 1894.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

William L. Keleher, Jesuit and Boston College president.

Keleher was born in Woburn, Massachusetts (1906), attended Boston College High School, graduated from Holy Cross College (1926), and entered the Jesuit Order at Shadowbrook (1926). He taught at the College of the Holy Cross (1932) and received an MA in Chemisty (1933). Keleher completed his theological training at Weston and was ordained (1937). He then served as assistant to the Provincial of the New England Province of Jesuits and as master of novices for the novitiate at Shadowbrook before becoming president of Boston College (1945). Keleher presided over significant growth and expansion at Boston College, including accommodation of veterans returning from World War II, launch of a $1 million capital fund campaign (1946), new construction, founding of the School of Nursing (1947), and the groundwork for founding the School of Education, which opened soon after he left office. Also during Keleher's tenure at Boston College was the Boston Heresy Case, which involved then-Jesuit priest Leonard Feeney. Following his presidency at Boston College, Keleher serving as a professor, administrator, and trustee at Holy Cross. Keleher died 1975.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

Thomas I. Gasson, Jesuit, professor, and Boston College president.

Gasson was born in Kent, England (1859) and attended Saint Stephen's Anglican School in London (1868). He went to the United States at age 14 and lived in Philadelphia. The nuns of the Convent of the Sacred Heart instructed him in the Catholic faith. Gasson was baptized a Roman Catholic (1874), and the following year he entered the Jesuit Order. He studied at Woodstock College and the University of Innsbruck and was ordained (1891). He was assigned to the faculty of Boston College (1895) and appointed Boston College president (1907). As president of Boston College, he dealt with overcrowding on the Boston College campus in the South End by purchasing property in Chestnut Hill and moving the university to the newly-constructed facilities there (1913). After serving as Boston College president, Gasson was appointed dean of the Graduate School and professor of philosophy and economics at Georgetown University; he was later assigned to Loyola College, Montreal, Quebec, where he taught philosophy, economics, and theology. Gasson died in Montreal (1930). His body was returned to Boston for a funeral Mass in Immaculate Conception Church on Harrison Avenue, the former site of Boston College.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. William Devlin, SJ, served as president from 1919 to 1925.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. William J. Murphy, SJ, served as president from 1939 to 1945.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. J. Donald Monan, SJ, served as president from 1972 to 1996.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. Timothy Brosnahan, SJ, served as president from 1894 to 1898.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

James H. Dolan, Jesuit, professor, and Boston College president.

Dolan graduated from Boston College High School and attended Boston College before entering the Society of Jesus in (1905). He studied at Woodstock College, taught at Georgetown University, returned to Woodstock to study Theology (1917), and lectured at Holy Cross College (1922-1925). From 1925 to 1932, Dolan served as Boston College president. Dolan's tenure included significant physical and academic development for Boston College: construction of Bapst Library and addition to St. Mary's Hall; the Boston College "Graduate School" was officially open to both male and female students for afternoon and evening classes; the Law School was inagurated; and an Extension School of the Law School was established. After serving as president of Boston College, Dolan earned his doctorate in Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, was appointed the Socius to the Provincial of the New England Province (1932-1937) and the Province Prefect of Studies (1932-1935). He became New England Province Provincial (1937) and, later, Fairfield University president (1944-1951). Dolan returned to Boston College as a professor of Philosophy. Dolan died in 1977.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. Joseph R.N. Maxwell, SJ, served as president from 1951 to 1958.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. Charles W. Lyons, SJ, served as president from 1914 to 1919.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. W. Seavey Joyce, SJ, served as president from 1968 to 1972.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

Robert Fulton, Jesuit and president of Boston College.

Fulton was born in Virginia in 1826 and entered the Jesuit novitiate in Frederick, Maryland in 1843. He was ordained in 1857 and first came to Boston 1861. Fulton settled in Boston in 1863. He began as an instructor at Boston College in 1864, served as first prefect, and became the third and eighth president of Boston College (1870-1880 and 1888-1891). Fulton died in 1895.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

W.G. Read Mullan, Jesuit and president of Boston College.

Mullan was born in 1860 in Baltimore, Maryland. He entered Loyola College (1874) and the Jesuit Novitiate at Frederick, Maryland (1877), began his training in theology at Woodstock (1888), and was ordained to the priesthood (1890). He served as Prefect of Studies at Fordham University, Superior of the Woodstock Scholastics, and professor at the College of the Holy Cross before his appointment as president of Boston College (1898-1903). At Boston College, Mullan was involved in the educational controversy concerning the exclusion of Boston College from approved institutions for admission to Harvard Univeristy Law School and remarks from Charles W. Eliot disparaging Jesuit institutions. After his presidency at Boston College, Mullan was Prefect of Fordham Univeristy, Georgetown Univeristy, and Loyola College. Mullan died in 1910.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. William James McGarry, SJ, served as president from 1937 to 1939.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

John McElroy, Jesuit, missionary, chaplain, and Boston College founder.

McElroy was born in 1782 in Northern Ireland. His education was rudimentary. McElroy went to the United States on a ship bound for Baltimore, Maryland (1803), entered the Society of Jesus at Georgetown College (1806), and was ordained (1817). McElroy was appointed pastor of Trinity Church, Georgetown, where he was involved with the missionary work of his parish, development of local Catholic education, and spiritual retreats. President Polk selected McElroy as one of the first Catholic priests to be a chaplain for the United States Army (1845). McElroy was transferred to Boston (1847) and worked to establish a Jesuit school there. Boston College was incorporated (1863). McElroy served as the first vice-president and was instrumental in the building of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the College's first chapel. Following his tenure in Boston, McElroy retired to Maryland, where he continued to serve as a priest. He died in 1877.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. Louis J. Gallagher, SJ, served as president from 1932 to 1937.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863. Rev. Michael P. Walsh, SJ, served as president from 1958 to 1968.

Boston College office.

The Office of the President was established at the founding of Boston College in 1863.

John Bapst, Jesuit, missionary, and Boston College president.

Bapst , born in Switzerland (1816), attended the Jesuit College of Fribourg, entered the Jesuit order (1835), and was ordained (1846). Bapst was assigned to the missions in Maine, where he ministered to the native Penobscot population and Canadian and Irish immigrants. He was met with scorn and violence at the hands of anti-Catholic persecutors, including being tarred and feathered. In 1859, Bapst became the first rector of the then-Scholasticate Boston College. He was elected the first official president of Boston College (1863), established the foundation of Boston College, and oversaw its doors open (1864). Bapst served as president until his retirement (1869). He died in November of 1887.