William C. McInnes, SJ papers
Scope and Contents
Papers of William C. McInnes, SJ, documenting his life and work as an administrator, university business ethics professor, and Jesuit priest.
McInnes's administrative papers contain materials created as president of the Loyola Education Foundation, chaplain of the Boston College Alumni Association, and as a participant in the work of the Institute for Lifelong Learning and the Center on Aging and Ethics at Boston College.
Conference materials and short writings that span McInnes's career as a college and Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) president are included. His writings begin with his scholarship as a business ethics faculty member of the Boston College School of Business Administration in the early 1960s, through his years in Jesuit higher education with the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the 1970s-1980s. Writings include articles, book chapters, book reviews, reports on Jesuit higher education events, and speeches. McInnes's teaching and curriculum development materials document his return to business ethics at the Boston College School of Business after his retirement in 1998.
Personal material aggregated during his life and career form another portion of the papers, including biographical sketches, resumes, bibliographies, genealogical information, and photographs of family and vacations. There are also photographs of adjacent professional trips as president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). Other materials document McInnes's involvement with alumni activities and reunions for Boston College and Stern School of Business, New York University.
McInnes's work as a Jesuit priest included participation in Jesuit projects and leading retreats throughout his career, for which he kept extensive notes, sermons, and transcripts of speeches. He also kept notes and collected resources about sacramental rites and liturgy, including for baptisms, marriages, penance and reconciliation, and funerals.
Dates
- Creation: 1957 - 2008
Creator
- McInnes, William C., 1923-2009 (Person)
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Negatives in box 1715 are not an access medium and are not available for use; print photographs in boxes 2, 3, and 1665 are available for access.
All university records dating after 1968 are closed per university policy. Access with permission of the originating office.
Jesuit records are closed at the request of the Boston College Jesuit Community.
Conditions Governing Use
These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Biographical note: William C. McInnes, SJ
William Charles “Bill” McInnes, SJ, was born on January 20, 1923, in Boston, Massachusetts to William C. and Mary E. (Byrne) McInnes. He had two siblings, Paul McInnes and Helen (McInnes) Watson. He entered Boston College in 1940, but interrupted his studies to enlist in the United States Army in 1942. The Army trained McInnes as a meteorologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and he travelled with the Army Air Forces as a meteorology officer during World War II, serving in China, Africa and India. He received his BS in Business Administration from Boston College in 1944. After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1946, he entered the Society of Jesus at Weston College. He then received his MA in Philosophy from Boston College in 1951, his PhD in Business Administration from New York University in 1954, and was ordained a Jesuit priest on June 15, 1957.
McInnes became a professor of Business Ethics at Boston College in 1959, and was appointed Associate Dean of the School of Business 1961. He left Boston College in 1964 to become the President of Fairfield University, a position he held until 1973. McInnes oversaw tremendous growth at Fairfield University, including the acceptance of women students in 1970 and an overall doubling of the student body. In 1972, McInnes was appointed President of the University of San Francisco, where he oversaw a financial reform of the university’s administration. In 1977, he left the University of San Francisco to become the president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), a consortium of Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, until 1989. In 1990, he took a position as a campus minister at the University of Connecticut and the parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Parish in Storrs, Connecticut. After retiring, he returned to the Jesuit community in Weston, Massachusetts, where he taught courses at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and supported the Boston College Alumni Association and local priests and parishes.
McInnes died on December 8, 2009 from complications of cancer and a fall.
Sources:
“Obituary: Father William McInnes, local Jesuit, friend of parishes and senior priests,” The Pilot, December 18, 2009.
“Rev. William Charles McInnes”, Find A Grave. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45435133/william-charles-mcinnes
“William C. McInnes,” Wikipedia, January 21, 2023.
Full Extent
10.25 Linear Feet (10 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Papers of 20th-century Jesuit and business ethicist William C. McInnes, SJ, including administrative materials, biographical information, conference and event materials, liturgical and sacramental resources, photographs, retreat notes, teaching materials, and writings.
Arrangement
Arranged in six series: I. Administrative; II. Conferences and events; III. Personal; IV. Religious; V. Teaching; and VI. Writing.
The first series is arranged in four subseries: A. Aging and the elderly; B. Boston College Alumni Association (BCAA); C. Boston College Carroll School of Management and D. Loyola Education Foundation.
The fourth series is arranged in four subseries: A. Jesuit activities; B. Retreats; C. Sacramental rites; and D. St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, University of Connecticut.
Custodial History
David Horn and Philip Kiley, SJ, worked with John Howard and William McInnes to go through McInnes's possessions a few months before his death (October-November 2009) and decide what should constitute his archive. Horn then designated some materials for Boston College, and other materials for the Jesuit Provincial records, Fairfield University, University of San Francisco, or the University of Connecticut campus ministry. Kiley then organized and refoldered most of the Boston College materials. In 2023, Elizabeth Peters formally processed the collection of McInnes's personal papers, separating out the portion of the accession that constituted his Association of Jesuit Colleges and University (AJCU) presidential papers to be added to the AJCU collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred by Northeastern Province Jesuits, 2009. Formally accessioned 2019.
Separated Materials
Published works associated with this collection have been transferred within the Burns Library and can be found in the Boston College Library catalog.
Processing Information
Although McInnes's articles and speeches include a set from his years as Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) president, he elected to keep them with his personal papers rather than the records of AJCU. In order to keep the corpus of his short writings together, they have been retained in his papers.
- Financial and medical records, student work, newspaper clippings, out of scope, duplicates
- Materials pertaining to administration at Fairfield University and at University of San Francisco
- Title
- William C. McInnes, SJ Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Subtitle
- 1957-2008
- Author
- Elizabeth Peters (2023); updated by Lynn Moulton
- Date
- 2026
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2026 March: Added conference materials and short writings on Jesuit higher education.
Repository Details
Part of the John J. Burns Library Repository
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA
617-552-4861
burns@bc.libanswers.com