John Richard Cavanaugh (June 10, 1929 – July 26, 2007) was an American priest, teacher, and scholar.
He was born in
Rochester, New York, the fourth child and second son of William Cavanaugh and Helen Louise (Kavanaugh) Cavanaugh.
After graduating from
Aquinas Institute of Rochester in 1946, he entered seminary studies for the
Congregation of St. Basil
, image = Basilian_Fathers.png
, image_size = 150px
, abbreviation = CSB
, nickname = Basilians
, formation =
, founding_location = Annonay, France
, founders =
, type ...
(The Basilians). He was ordained as a
Roman Catholic priest in 1955.
The following year he earned his Master's in English from the
University of Toronto and then went on to teach English language and literature at the newly established
St. John Fisher College
St. John Fisher University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal and saint. ...
in Rochester, which had been founded by the Basilians in 1948. He was a member of the English department from 1956 to 1994.
In 1959, he began doctoral studies at
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...
.
After completing his course work there, he returned to teaching at St. John Fisher College in 1962. He completed his doctoral dissertation in 1970. Both his Master's thesis and his doctoral dissertation were studies of certain features of
St. Thomas More's writings.
In 1984, he took a yearlong sabbatical trip to Ireland. When he returned to Fisher as Chair of the English Department, he launched an Irish literature course and became active in recounting Ireland's history and countering stereotypes of the Irish people. To that end, he helped found the Rochester chapter of the
Irish-American Culture Institute, a group that brings Irish artists and scholars to Rochester.
In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Cavanaugh enjoyed playing bagpipes, an activity he had to give up when he developed heart problems in 1980.
He served on the board of trustees for Fisher and
Aquinas Institute. In 2003, he established Fisher's first endowed chair, The William and Helen Chair of Catholic Studies, named in honor of his parents.
In 2000, he was named Distinguished
Irish American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
of the Millennium Year at the sixth annual Rochester Irish Festival,
and in 2001 he was the
Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick's Day parade.
A bronze statue of Cavanaugh was erected on the east side of the Fisher campus in his honor.
References
1929 births
2007 deaths
Writers from Rochester, New York
Religious leaders from Rochester, New York
Saint Louis University alumni
St. John Fisher University
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