William C. McInnes
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William Charles McInnes Jr., S.J. (January 20, 1923 – December 8, 2009) was an American
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
and academic. McInnes served as the fifth President of
Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
, located in
Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan area ...
, from 1964 to 1973, and the President of the University of San Francisco from 1972 to 1977. He served as the president of both universities simultaneously for a few months in 1972. He later headed the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, a
consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
of Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, from 1977 until 1989. McInnes was one of the first Jesuit priests to study
business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
.


Biography


Early life

McInnes was born on January 20, 1923, in
Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...
, to parents, William and Mary (Byrne) McInnes. He was one of three children, including his sister, Helen and brother, Paul. McInnes lived in Boston during his early childhood before the family purchased a home in
Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
. He attended local public schools. McInness enrolled in
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
in 1940. However, he enlisted in the United States Army in 1942 after noticing an ad on a Boston College bulletin board promising to train students as meteorologists. The United States Army trained McInnes as a meteorologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He travelled with the
Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
as a meteorology officer during World War II, serving in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Africa and India. He was stationed in Assam for six months and later worked in Shanghai. McInnes graduated from
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
in 1944 and was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1946. He initially enrolled in Saint John's Seminary in Massachusetts following World War II, intending to become a diocesan Roman Catholic priest. However, Father John Drummey, a professor at Boston College, recommended that he join the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
order instead. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1946 and studied
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at
Weston College Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to ...
. McInnes earned his master's degree in business from Boston College. He then obtained a doctorate in
business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
from New York University. McInnes was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1957. In doing so, McInnes became one of the first Jesuits to specialize in
business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
.


Boston College

McInness joined the faculty of Boston College in 1959. In 1964, he was promoted to assistant dean of Boston College's school of business.


Fairfield University

McInness was appointed as the President of
Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
in Connecticut by the Jesuits in 1964, a position he would hold until 1973. He had no prior knowledge that he would was to be given the post at Fairfield and was summoned to a "secret meeting" where he was appointed president. He oversaw the rapid expansion of the university's campus and student population during his presidency. Under Mcinness, the overall student enrollment at Fairfield doubled to nearly 2,500 students at the time. Fairfield, which had previously been an all-male institution, began accepting women in 1970, becoming a co-ed institution for the first time. The school's first female alumni graduated in 1973.Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J. Profile
/ref> The Graduate School of Corporate and Political Communication,
School of Nursing Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
and Center for Lifetime Learning were all established during McInness' tenure as college president. McInness also oversaw several major challenges to Fairfield University during the 1960s and 1970s. McInness offered testimony before the United States Supreme Court in the '' Tilton vs. Richardson'' case. The Tilton vs. Richardson
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
, which was filed against Fairfield University and three other Roman Catholic colleges, ultimately upheld the constitutionality of using American federal money for the construction of secular academic buildings at colleges and universities with religious affiliations. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fairfield in 1971. In 1969, a group of African American students seized an academic building located on Fairfield's campus. McInness negotiated directly with the students involved, eventually agreeing to some of their demands, including a commitment to hiring minority faculty members and increasing the number of black students from 43 to 240 at the time. Fairfield University also experienced a ten-day student strike during the late 1960s. McInnes was criticized outside Fairfield University because no university students were ever punished for building takeovers or strikes. He noted that no university property or buildings were damaged or destroyed during the 1960s campus unrest, "We never had any physical damages on the Fairfield campus, and we did not have any fatalities or serious injuries. But we lost several outside friends, because they did not appreciate the way we were handling the crisis." McInnes was appointed president of the University of San Francisco in 1972. However, he remained the president of both Fairfield and San Francisco simultaneously for four months during the Fall 1972 semester while transititioning between the two colleges. McInnes officially stepped down as president of Fairfield University in 1973 and was succeeded by Thomas R. Fitzgerald, S.J.


University of San Francisco

Father McInnes was appointed president of the University of San Francisco in 1972. He simultaneously served as president of both San Francisco and Fairfield University for four months during the transition between the two universities. The University of San Francisco was in a deep financial crisis at the time of McInnes' arrival in 1972. McInnes instituted a series of financial reforms which resulted in a corrected,
balanced budget A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budge ...
for the university. McInnes initiated negotiations which led to the acquisition of the now defunct
San Francisco College for Women Lone Mountain College was a college acquired by the University of San Francisco (USF) in 1978. History It was built and founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart as Sacred Heart Academy in Menlo Park, California, in 1898. The school becam ...
campus on
Lone Mountain Lone Mountain may refer to a place in the United States: * Lone Mountain, Tennessee, an unincorporated community * Lone Mountain (California), a hill in San Francisco, California ** Lone Mountain, San Francisco, California, the associated neighbor ...
. Today, the Lone Mountain campus houses administrative offices, classrooms and the offices of the university's president and vice president. McInnes also founded the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning, a program for retirees, during his tenure as president.


Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities

He departed the University of San Francisco in 1977 to become the head of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), a
consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
consisting of the twenty-eight Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. He served as the head of the AJCU for twelve years. His position allowed him to meet both Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. McInness stepped down as head of the AJCU in 1989.


Later life

He later became the campus minister at the University of Connecticut in 1990. That same year, McInnes also became the
parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
of St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Parish in
Storrs, Connecticut Storrs is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,344 at the 2010 Unite ...
. In 1998, McInness rejoined Boston College as an
adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
at the
Carroll School of Management The Wallace E. Carroll School of Management (CSOM) is the business school of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The school is regularly ranked among the best business schools in the United States, particularly its undergraduate progr ...
. He also became the faculty advisor for BC's chapter of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit
honor society In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...
. McInnes campaigned to build a Vietnam War memorial on the Boston College campus. The memorial, which measures 70 feet long and commemorates members of the Boston College community killed in Vietnam, was dedicated on November 11, 2009. Father William McInnes died on December 8, 2009, from complications of cancer and a fall at the Campion Center Jesuit retreat facility in Weston, Massachusetts, at the age of 86. His funeral was held at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and he was buried at the Campion Center Cemetery in Weston, Massachusetts.


References


External links


Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J. Profile Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J., 5th President of Fairfield University (1964-1973)
{{DEFAULTSORT:McInnes, William C. 1923 births 2009 deaths Presidents of Fairfield University Presidents of the University of San Francisco 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits University of San Francisco faculty Boston College faculty Boston College alumni New York University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II People from Boston Educators from Massachusetts United States Army officers People from Weston, Massachusetts Catholics from Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts 20th-century American academics