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Rev. John M. Driscoll, O.S.A.
(1923- )
Thirtieth President
(1975-1988)
“President since
1975, Father Driscoll notified the board of trustees at its Dec. 8
meeting that he will be stepping down as the university’s chief
administrative officer in August 1988.
Father Driscoll, 64,
has served longer than any president in Villanova’s history. He
succeeded the Rev. Edward J. McCarthy, O.S.A., in July 1975. At the
time of his election, Father Driscoll was serving as vice president for
Academic Affairs at Villanova. He came here in 1965 from Merrimack
College in New England, where he was religious superior of the
Augustinian community and a member of that school’s board of trustees.
A 1948 graduate of
Villanova, Father Driscoll earned both his master’s degree and his
doctorate in philosophy from Catholic University. He was ordained in
1951, and began a teaching career at Archbishop Carroll High School in
Washington, D.C., shortly thereafter.
In 1956 he was
transferred to Merrimack, where he served as a philosophy teacher and
later as vice president and dean. He remained there until his
assignment to Villanova in the mid-1960s. It was a time of national
turmoil involving campus protests and students demanding a stronger
voice in university governance. As vice president, Father Driscoll
played a major role in student-university relations that eventually
brought about the university senate at Villanova.
He became the
university’s 30th president in July 1975, beginning tenure of
distinguished service. In 1978 he was elected president of the
Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities and became a
recognized educational leader in the state.
During the 12 years
of his presidency, those qualities of leadership were reflected in the
growth, advancement and reputation of the university. The purchase of
land extended the borders of campus. New dormitories were constructed.
Both the Connelly Center and the Pavilion were completed, and numerous
buildings were renovated. A comprehensive internal evaluation nears
completion.
To help offset the
costs of expansion, Father Driscoll instituted the university’s first
national fund-raising campaign. The Covenant Campaign, in two phases,
raised more than $34 million over a 10-year period.
But most important,
Villanova has grown academically, from a good university to one that
U.S. News and World Report called one of America’s best. Under
Father Driscoll’s direction, Villanova joined the academic elite. Its
student body is increasingly more select and geographically diverse and
its academic curriculum more innovate and challenging. Its faculty
ranks among the best in the nation, providing a values-centered
education that earned plaudits in a recent national poll of college
presidents.
All of the objective
indicators of institutional excellence have been met during Father
Driscoll’s presidency, and as a result, Villanova’s course has never
been brighter as it prepares for the future.”
Reflections, vol. 8,
No. 4 (December 1987), p. 1-2
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