Maxwell, Joseph Raymond Nonnatus, 1899-1971

Joseph Maxwell was born on December 7, 1899 in Taunton, Massachusetts, to Richard and Caroline Maxwell. In 1918, he enrolled in Holy Cross College, and the following year, he entered the Society of Jesus as a novice. Maxwell studied classics at St. Andrew-on-Hudson and philosophy at Weston College. He then taught at Holy Cross from 1926 to 1929 before returning to Weston to study theology. Maxwell received a Master of the Arts degree from Boston College (1926), a doctorate in English from Fordham (1930), and an Licentiate of Sacred Theology from Weston (1932). Maxwell was ordained to the priesthood in 1932.

Maxwell went on to hold administrative positions at both Boston College and Holy Cross. In 1935, he became dean of studies at Boston College, a position that he held until his appointment as president of the College of Holy Cross in 1939. At 39, he was the youngest person appointed to the position at the time. His presidency took place during the difficult years of World War II, when the number of students decreased due to military conscription. In 1939, Wheeler Hall was dedicated, despite decreasing enrollment, which dropped by 70 in his first academic year as president. Maxwell also worked to revamp Holy Cross academically. Following a 1938 accreditation report, Maxwell became proactive in insisting that faculty members, especially Jesuits, pursue terminal graduate and professional degrees. He also took a more active role than his predecessors in managing the Holy Cross athletic program. In the fall of 1941, he limited the number and size of athletic scholarships, and asserted that the college needed "to keep our standards where they belong," even at the risk of less successful sports teams.

Beginning in 1945, Maxwell served as rector of Cranwell Preparatory School, until his 1951 appointment as president of Boston College.

During his tenure at Boston College, Maxwell oversaw the emergence of a full-fledged Graduate School of Arts and Sciences as well as the founding of the School of Education. The School of Education moved to its present home in the newly built Campion Hall in 1954, and the Law School moved from its downtown location to the newly built More Hall in 1955. Lyons Hall was completed and the first on-campus residence halls - Claver, Loyola, and Xavier Halls - were constructed and dedicated in September 1955. Alumni Stadium opened with a game against Navy on the football field in the fall of 1957 and two additional dormitories, Gonzaga and Kostka Halls, opened that year.

Maxwell received numerous awards and honors throughout his career. Most notably, he held three honorary doctorates: from St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Colegio Real in Colombia; and Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He was also the first Catholic priest to be named president of the Association of American Colleges. Maxwell authored two books: The Happy Ascetic, a biography of Belgian Jesuit Adolph Petit, and a book of verse, Complete Fragments.

After his presidency ended in February 1958, Maxwell went to Brazil for a short period, where he acted as an advisor for the Pontifical Catholic University of Brazil. He then served as a missionary in Jamaica and served as a parish priest in communities there for eleven years. After his retirement, while travelling with a group through Europe, he suffered an acute heart attack. Maxwell died in Ybbs, Austria on September 18, 1971. He is buried at Weston College Cemetery.