Biography

Fr. James J. Lyons, S.J. was the nineteenth President of Santa Clara University and served from 1932 to 1935. During this time, student enrollment dropped nearly 20% because of the Great Depression. Faculty salaries were reduced, and intercollegiate baseball was dropped in 1933. Former President Father Maher, who was then head of the California province, requested that the university stand as security for a $50,000 loan so the province could support other needy institutions. President Lyons denied this request and stated that his responsibility lay with the university and not with the other schools. Father Lyons referred the matter to Rome himself, and his decision was upheld by officials there. Father Lyons was removed from office in 1935; because there was still a year left to his presidency, some concluded that the removal must be due to his unwillingness to yield to Maher’s requests. On July 4, 1935, Lyons was ordered to the provincial office in San Jose. At this conference, it was announced that orders had come from Rome to have Father Louis C. Rudolph, the current Dean of Arts at Loyola, take over the presidency.

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