Joyce, W. Seavey
Dates
- Existence: 1913 - 1988
Biographical Note
W. Seavey Joyce, Jesuit, professor, and Boston College president.
Joyce (1913-1988) was born in Dorchester and attended Boston College High School and Boston College (1937). He was ordained at Weston College (1943) and attended Harvard University for a doctorate in economics, returning to Boston College as a professor of economics (1949). Prior to his tenure as president, Joyce played a substantial role in the leadership of Boston College as Dean of the College of Business Administration (1953-1966), Dean of the Graduate School of Management (1963-1966), and Vice President of Community Relations (1966-1968). In 1954 he established the Boston College Citizens Seminars, which provided the initial impetus for the creation of both the Massachusetts Port Authority and Government Center. As head of the Boston Planning Council (1963-1968), he was instrumental in pushing for the large-scale expansion of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. When Joyce took over as twenty-third president of Boston College in 1968, he inherited a budget deficit. Tuition increases and unrest over the Vietnam War led to student strikes in 1970. Joyce initiated the Social Action Committee, which became "Pulse," a program that offered academic accreditation for social action projects. In 1972, he stepped down as president of Boston College. He returned to Boston College to teach economics in 1975, retiring in 1979.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Boston College artifacts collection
This collection documents the history of the American Jesuit university Boston College in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries through its material culture. The collection includes banners, flags, football memorabilia, groundbreaking shovels, medals, pins, plaques, seals, and signs from Boston College administrators, faculty, and, to a lesser degree, students.
Collection is open for research.
W. Seavey Joyce, SJ, President’s Office records
Collection is closed. Access with permission of office. Departmental records and faculty files containing student records, faculty tenure and promotion files, and other records containing personally identifiable information are closed due to privacy restrictions.