Fr. William Leahy, SJ

Boston College president, William Leahy

Fr. William Leahy, SJ has been the Boston College President since 1996. Born in 1948 in Imogene, Iowa, and a member of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus since 1967, Fr. Leahy earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in US history at St. Louis University in 1972 and 1975, respectively. He then began studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif., where he earned degrees in theology (1978) and historical theology (1980). He received a doctoral degree in US history from Stanford University in 1986.

He began his academic career as a teacher at Campion Jesuit High School in Wisconsin from 1973–1975. He served as a teaching assistant at Stanford University in 1981, before joining the Marquette University faculty as an instructor of history in 1985. He became an associate professor with tenure in 1991, the same year he was tapped for the executive vice president's post.

Fr. Leahy's publications include Adapting to America: Catholics, Jesuits and Higher Education in the Twentieth Century (Georgetown University Press, 1991). He also has written a number of articles on Catholic higher education in the United States, including "The Rise of Laity in American Catholic Higher Education," Records of the American Catholic Historical Society (1991); and "Academic Professionalism and American Catholic Higher Education," Assembly 1989: Jesuit Ministry in Higher Education (1990), among others, as well as numerous articles in the Dictionary of Christianity in America and book reviews in History, Journal of American History and History of Education Quarterly .

Fr. Leahy currently finds himself in the midst of a controversy surrounding his refusal to include sexual orientation in Boston College's notice of non-discrimination. A student referendum on March 1st showed 84% in favor of including sexual orientation and a list of nearly 200 faculty, staff, and administrators signed on in support as well. During the 2003–2004 academic year, Fr. Leahy came under fire for discrimination on basis of sexual orientation when he refused two candidates to the prestigious Rattigan Chair in the English Department. Both candidates were openly gay men and many faculty and graduate students of the English Department stated that there was no reason for hiring neither man for the position other than their sexual orientation. Students and faculty often cite the events surrounding the Rattigan Chair non-hirings when making the case for including sexual orientation in BC's notice of non-discrimination.

His memberships include the American Catholic Historical Association, the American Historical Association, the History of Education Society and the Organization of American Historians.