William Francis Masterson, SJ (December 17, 1910 – September 5, 1984) was an American Jesuit priest who became an educational leader in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Early life

Masterson was born on December 17, 1910, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, the son of physician John J. Masterson, who later became president of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He was educated by Jesuits, earning a bachelor's degree at

Woodstock College Woodstock College was a Jesuit seminary that existed from 1869 to 1974. It was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States. The school was located in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore, from its establishment until 1969, when it moved to ...

in 1932 and a master's at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1933. He became an English teacher at the

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

in 1933, and a leader of Catholic Boy Scouts in the Philippines. He returned to the US in 1936 for theological study at Woodstock College, and was ordained in 1939, by which time the outbreak of World War II had delayed his return to the Philippines. Instead, he became business editor for the ''Jesuit Missions'' magazine from 1941 to 1943, when he became director of the Jesuit Philippine Bureau in New York, using this posting to raise money for the postwar rebuilding of educational facilities in the Philippines.

Educational leadership

In 1947, Masterson returned to Ateneo de Manila as rector and president, and served in that position until 1950. Under his leadership, the university re-opened its law school, opened a new graduate school and Institute of Social Action, and moved its campus from

Padre Faura Street Padre Faura Street is an east-west street in downtown Manila, Philippines. It carries traffic one-way westbound from Romualdez Street to Roxas Boulevard. Starting at its eastern terminus at Paco Park in Paco district, the street heads west for a ...

in downtown

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

to the Loyola Heights neighborhood of

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

. Facing a backlash for this move, he was sent away from Ateneo and Manila to Cagayan de Oro, where he had previously spent his summers leading Boy Scout activities. He became head of the English department at Ateneo de Cagayan (later

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

), founded the Xavier University College of Agriculture (XUCA) in 1953, and founded the Southeast Asia Rural Social Leadership Institute in 1964. In 1968, he founded the Xavier Science Foundation, a non-government organization separate from the university that supports local agriculture, development, and education.

Recognition

In 1967, Ateneo de Manila gave Masterson an honorary doctorate. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1974, in recognition of "his multinational education and inspiration of rural leaders prompting their return to and love of the land". The Cagayan de Oro Airport-Bukidnon Highway was renamed as Masterson Avenue in his honor, and the Fr. William F. Masterson SJ Elementary School in Cagayan de Oro, located on this avenue, was also renamed in his honor in 2013. The main road of Ateneo de Manila is named Father Masterson Drive. In 2009, he was featured on a commemorative sheet of Philippine postage stamps, celebrating the sesquicentennial of Ateneo de Manila University. In 2015, The Xavier University Press published a book of essays inspired by Masterson's life, ''Fr. William F. Masterson, S.J.: The Story of a Brooklyn Jesuit Missionary and the Xavier U. Aggies''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masterson, William 1984 deaths 1910 births Woodstock College alumni Georgetown University alumni Academic staff of Ateneo de Manila University 20th-century American Jesuits American expatriates in the Philippines