Father McInnes, former president of two Jesuit universities, dies

By Catholic News Service

WESTON, Mass. (CNS) – Jesuit Father William C. McInnes, a former president of Fairfield University in Connecticut and the University of San Francisco, died Dec. 8 at Campion Center, a Jesuit residence and retreat center in Weston.

He was 86 years old and had been a Jesuit priest for 52 years.

His funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 15 at St. Ignatius Church at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, followed by interment in Campion Center Cemetery.

Father McInnes was Fairfield's fifth president, serving from 1964 to 1973. He left Fairfield to become president of the University of San Francisco, where he stayed until 1977. In the fall semester of 1972, he held the presidency of Fairfield and San Francisco simultaneously for four months.

Fairfield is "greatly indebted to Father McInnes for the tremendous growth and innovation he brought to this campus," said Jesuit Father Jeffrey von Arx, Fairfield's current president.

"During a time of great social unrest, he addressed challenging issues and through his inspiring and indefatigable leadership led this university to new heights of academic achievement and social awareness," he said in a statement.

Father McInnes years at Fairfield were marked by expansions in the physical plant, enrollment and academic programming.

During his tenure the campus unrest that was taking place around the country found its way onto Fairfield's campus, resulting in a 10-day student strike and a takeover of two administration buildings.

He also led a successful effort that enabled church-related colleges to receive federal funds for educational purposes.

While at the University of San Francisco, he launched community outreach and involvement programs that helped to save the financially-strapped Jesuit school.

In 1977, Father McInnes was named to head the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Washington. He was there 12 years.

He then was parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, 1990-96. He was the first Jesuit priest to hold that assignment.

A Jesuit of the New England province, Father McInnes spent his later years at Boston College, where he served on the faculty from 1997 to 2008.

He also was chaplain of the college's alumni association and began the Campion Visitation Program, bringing students, faculty and staff to visit his fellow Jesuits at the health care center in Weston.

In recent years, Father McInnes was active in a successful campaign to build a Veterans' Memorial on the Boston College campus. The 70-foot-long stone memorial to the college's war dead was formally dedicated Nov. 11.

"For so many years, Father McInnes has been the heart and soul of not just the alumni association, but of so many facets of Boston College," said John Feudo, associate vice president for alumni relations. "His presence was felt in all corners of the campus, and his spirit will be with us well into the future."

Born in Boston in 1923, William McInnes grew up in Quincy. He entered Boston College in 1940 to study business, but left the university in 1942 to enlist in the Army Air Forces. He was a meteorology officer in Africa, India and China during World War II.

When he returned to Boston, he wanted to enter the seminary and decided to join the Society of Jesus, where he became one of the first Jesuit educators to specialize in business administration.

After completing his philosophy studies at Weston College, Father McInnes earned a doctorate in business administration from New York University.

Following his ordination in 1957 and advanced theological studies, he joined the faculty at Boston College's College of Business Administration (now the Carroll School of Management) in 1959 and in 1964 was appointed assistant dean of the business school.

Father McInnes is survived by several nieces and nephews.