Riordan, Joseph W., S.J., Fr.
Dates
- Existence: 1857-09-29
Biography
"Born at Quincy, Massachusetts, September 29, 1857; received early education at St. Ignatius College, San Francisco; entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus, at Santa Clara, 1873; studied Theology and was raised to the priesthood at Woodstock, Maryland. Father Riordan took charge of the College when the whole country was laboring under a general financial depression which was keenly felt by all educational institutions; but by his great skill he carried the College safely through the most danterous crisis since the troublesome days of the great Father Nobili; became President of Santa Clara College July 31, 1893. To him we owe the improved condition of the bathing pond, the cement walks of the court and garden, the new lavatory of the Second Division, the enlargement and beautifying of the Library, with large and precious additions of books, and a number of other beneficial changes; in 1899 his term of office being completed, was stationed at Los Gatos, as Professor of Rhetoric, to the Jesuit Scholastics of the Society." Excerpted from University of Santa Clara. University of Santa Clara: a history from the founding of Santa Clara Mission in 1777 to the beginning of the University in 1912.