Thomas Henry Donald Mahoney (November 4, 1913, in Cambridge, Massachusetts – April 21, 1997, in Palo Alto, California) was an American professor and politician.

Academia

Mahoney graduated from Boston College in 1936 and earned his master's degree and a Ph.D. at George Washington University. In 1945 he joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A professor of history and political science, Mahoney twice served as chairman of the history section. Mahoney wrote and edited several books, including ''The United States in World History'' (co-written with J. B. Rae) and a number of works on the life and thought of philosopher and statesman

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. Mahoney retired from M.I.T. in 1984. In 1989, at the age of 75, he earned a second doctorate degree in public affairs at Harvard University's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Politics

In 1948, Mahoney entered politics when he ran for and was elected to the Cambridge, Massachusetts School Committee. He remained on the committee until 1954 when he decided not to run for re-election. From 1964 to 1972 Mahoney was a member of the Cambridge City Council. From 1971 to 1979, Mahoney served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 2nd Middlesex District. In the House, Mahoney was the founding chairman of the ethics committee and was also chairman of the House Energy Committee. In 1979 he was appointed by Governor

Edward J. King Edward Joseph King (May 11, 1925 – September 18, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 66th Governor of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983. A member of the Democratic Party until 1985, he then became a member of the Republican ...

to serve as Massachusetts' Secretary of Elder Affairs. In 1981, he led the Massachusetts delegation at the

White House Conference on Aging The White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) is a once-a-decade conference sponsored by the Executive Office of the President of the United States which makes policy recommendations to the president and Congress regarding the aged. The first of its ...

Later life and death

After his tenure as Elder Affairs Secretary, Mahoney worked as a social gerontologist and was an adviser to the United States House of Representatives He was also a part of many United Nations agencies, panels, and conferences. At the time of his death he was a member of the executive committee of the United Nations Nongovernmental Organizations Committee. In 1997, Mahoney addressed the 97th conference

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

in Seoul, South Korea. On his return trip home he suffered a stroke while stopping over in California. He died on April 21, 1997, at the Stanford Medical Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahoney, Thomas H. D. 1913 births 1997 deaths Boston College alumni George Washington University alumni Harvard University alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Massachusetts Secretaries of Elder Affairs Cambridge, Massachusetts School Committee members 20th-century American legislators