Timothy Brosnahan | |
|---|---|
 Brosnahanc. 1896 | |
| 10th President of Boston College | |
| In office 1894–1898 | |
| Preceded by | Edward I. Devitt |
| Succeeded by | W. G. Read Mullan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1856-01-08)January 8, 1856 Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | June 4, 1915(1915-06-04) (aged 59) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Jesuit Community Cemetery |
| Alma mater | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1887 by James Gibbons |
Timothy J. BrosnahanSJ (January 8, 1856 – June 4, 1915) was an AmericanCatholic priest andJesuit who served as thepresident ofBoston College from 1894 to 1898. Born inVirginia, he joined theSociety of Jesus in 1872, and taught philosophy atWoodstock College,Georgetown University, and Boston College. After his presidency, he wrote a prominent article criticizing an article byHarvard University's president that deprecated Jesuit education. In his later years, he taught and wrote about ethics.
Timothy J. Brosnahan was born on January 8, 1856, inAlexandria, Virginia. He wasbaptized the following Sunday, January 15 atSt. Mary's Church, a Jesuitparish.[1] In June of that year, his father became the overseer of a farm in northernWashington County, today located in theBrightwood neighborhood ofWashington, D.C., and Brosnahan moved there with his parents.[2] In June 1861, he and his sister enrolled as students at aprivate school for farmers' children near his house. In November 1862, due to the outbreak of theCivil War, Brosnahan moved with his parents from the countryside to theCity of Washington, and they became parishioners atSt. Aloysius Church, a Jesuit parish.[3]
In 1863, Brosnahan developedpneumonia and doctors believed he would not survive. After recovering, Brosnahan began his education, briefly attending two private schools. He then enrolled in aparochial school, initially located in the basement of St. Aloysius Church.[3] In 1867, Brosnahan received hisfirst communion and wasconfirmed by ArchbishopMartin John Spalding ofBaltimore. He transferred toGonzaga College in 1869. That year, he applied to join theSociety of Jesus, but theprovincial superior denied his application. Brosnahan again applied to the order, and was accepted into the Jesuitnovitiate inFrederick, Maryland,[4] entering the Jesuit order on August 21, 1872.[5]
After four years in Frederick, Brosnahan began hisphilosophical studies atWoodstock College. Afterwards, he taught atBoston College for four years, and in 1883, he founded the school magazineThe Stylus. Later that year, he went toGeorgetown University, where he taught for one year.[6] In 1884, Brosnahan returned to Woodstock for histheological studies. During the academic year of 1886 to 1887, he was theeditor of theWoodstock Letters.[7] He was the first Jesuitscholastic to become editor of the publication. Brosnahan introduced coverage of contemporary subjects, rather than purely historical ones. He also appointed the first assistant editors.[8] In 1887, Brosnahan completed his theological studies,[7] and wasordained apriest that same year by CardinalJames Gibbons, theArchbishop of Baltimore.[9]
In 1887, Brosnahan returned to Boston College as a professor ofrhetoric. The following year, he completed histertianship in Frederick. He then became a professor oflogic and generalmetaphysics at Woodstock College.[7] In 1892, he again returned to Boston College as a professor of philosophy,[10] and on February 2, 1892, he professed hisfourth vow.[5] In December 1893, Brosnahan oversaw the resumption of publication ofThe Stylus, which had ceased publication in 1889 because renovation of the college building left it without any office.[11]
On July 16, 1894, Brosnahan succeededEdward I. Devitt as thepresident of Boston College.[12] At the same time, he also served as the school'sprefect of studies.[7] He reorganized the schedule of English classes and wrote a summary of the Jesuitphilosophy of education, both of which were adopted by other colleges through the Jesuit province.[13] It was reproduced in Boston College's catalogue for 57 years.[14] He also instituted a required course inphysiological psychology and added alaboratory requirement to thechemistry course, and institutedgeology and descriptive geometry as electives.[13]
Brosnahan andJ. Havens Richards, thepresident of Georgetown, organized a much-anticipated firstintercollegiate debate between Boston College and Georgetown. On May 1, 1895, three students from each school debated the merits of thenewly enacted federal income tax, with Georgetown prevailing.[15]
During Brosnahan's presidency, the number of students enrolled increased to 450,[10] from 315 in 1890,[16] and the school's finances were in good order.[10] In 1895 and 1896, he purchased two brick buildings on Newton Street to house the Young Men's Catholic Association, which was previously housed inside the college building.[17] In 1898, he purchased a large tract of land inRoxbury, on both sides ofMassachusetts Avenue, from the estate ofOakes Angier Ames.[13][10] The college's board of trustees desired to build on it an athletic field for competitive sports. The field was only ever used for sports practice and was eventually sold in 1914, with the proceeds partly funding construction of a new college campus.[18]
Brosnahan began for the first time a separation betweenBoston College's high school classes from its college classes. Each were held in separate wings of the building, with separate entrances to each.[19] Brosnahan was succeeded as president byW. G. Read Mullan on June 30, 1898.[20]
During his presidency of Boston College, Brosnahan was also thepastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in theSouth End.[21][22] During the summer of 1895, he closed the upper church for renovations, which reopened on September 15.[23]
In 1898, Brosnahan returned to Woodstock College as a professor of metaphysics for one year, and then taughtethics. During this time, he published a book on ethics titledAdversaria ethica in ordinem redacta.[24]
In 1900, Brosnahan wrote an article inThe Sacred Heart Review responding to and criticizing an article byCharles William Eliot inThe Atlantic Monthly that advocated elective classes, which Eliot had recently implemented atHarvard University aspresident, and criticizing the rigid curriculum inJesuit universities, comparing it toIslamic curriculums.[25][26] This article brought Brosnahan to national prominence within Catholic circles.[14]
Brosnahan succeededAnthony Maas as the prefect of studies of Woodstock College in 1906.[26] In 1909, he went to Loyola College in Maryland as a professor or ethics, where he also gave evening lectures to the public. In 1914, Brosnahan's health began to deterioriate, which physicians diagnosed asBright's disease. He paused his teaching, spending the summer at Georgetown, before returning to resume teaching in the fall.[27] He also worked on translating hisLatin bookAdversaria ethica into English, which he only partially completed.[28]
On March 1, 1915, he was taken toGeorgetown University Hospital, remaining there for more than one month, and then returned to the hospital again on May 27. Brosnahan died there on June 4, 1915. Hisfuneral was held at St. Aloysius Church, and his body was interred in theJesuit Community Cemetery at Georgetown.[29][30]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | 10thPresident of Boston College 1894–1898 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | 11th Pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception 1894–1898 | Succeeded by |
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