Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. (born 1948) was the 31st president of the College of the Holy Cross in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He succeeded Acting President Frank Vellaccio on July 1, 2000, and was succeeded by Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J.

Biography

Childhood

McFarland was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1948. He was raised in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...

and for a short time in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Education

McFarland received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1969. He gained his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1979 and his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 1981, both in computer engineering, from Carnegie Mellon University. McFarland joined the Jesuit order in 1975 and studied at the Weston School of Theology and earned a Master's in

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and Th. M. in social ethics. He was ordained at the College of the Holy Cross in 1984.

Career

McFarland previously worked for

AT&T Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

conducting research in computer-aided design of digital systems. Before going to Holy Cross, he was a

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the ...

President of the College of the Holy Cross

McFarland succeeded Acting Holy Cross President Frank Vellaccio on July 1, 2000. In February 2011, he announced his intention to step down from office. McFarland was succeeded in office by Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J., who was unanimously elected as the 32nd President of Holy Cross by the board of trustees on May 6, 2011. McFarland left office on January 9, 2012.

IEEE

McFarland has articles published in the Proceedings of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...

(the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the IEEE Transactions on Computers, the

IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems ''IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems'' (sometimes abbreviated ''IEEE TCAD'' or ''IEEE Transactions on CAD'') is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the design, analysis, and use of computer ...

, Formal Methods for System Design, the Journal of Systems and Software, Computer, and Technology and Society. For three years he was an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems and has participated in numerous program committees for conferences.

Board Memberships

In addition to his responsibilities as Holy Cross' president, McFarland serves on the following: * The Board of Trustees of The

Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) is a consortium of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and three theological centers in the United States, Canada, and Belize committed to advancing academic excellence by promoting and ...

* The Board of Trustees of The

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

* The Board of Trustees of Boston College High School * The Board of Trustees of St. John's High School in

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Shrewsbury, unlike the surrounding towns of Grafton, Millbury, Westborough, Northborough, Boylston, and West Boylston did not become a ...

* The Board of Trustees of Worcester Catholic Charities * The Board of Trustees of The Worcester Municipal Research Bureau * The Board of Directors of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

* The Advisory Council for

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

* Chairman of the Nativity School of Worcester, Massachusetts

References

External links

* * 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits 1948 births Living people Presidents of the College of the Holy Cross People from Boston Carnegie Mellon University alumni Gonzaga University faculty Cornell University alumni Catholics from Massachusetts {{US-academic-administrator-1940s-stub