The Very Rev. Patrick A. Donohoe, S.J. was named the 24th president of Santa Clara in 1958. Born in San Francisco in 1914, he entered the Society of Jesus at the Los Gatos Novitiate in 1931, following his graduation from St. Ignatius High School. Father Donohoe received his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Gonzaga University, an S.T.L. degree from Alma College, and earned his Ph.D. in political science at St. Louis University in 1952. Fr. Donohoe came to the University of Santa Clara in 1950, and taught political science until 1957. In 1953, he was named chairman of the Political Science Department. Fr. Donohoe served as the regional assistant and director of studies in the Provincial’s Office in San Francisco from 1957 to 1958, prior to being named President of the University of Santa Clara. On January 31, 1968, Fr. Donohoe was named California Provincial of the Society of Jesus. He served briefly as acting president at Santa Clara when then president, Father Thomas Terry, S.J., resigned the post because of ill health. Fr. Donohoe died February 6, 1984.

Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College and is California’s oldest operating institution of higher learning. It was established on the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the eighth of the original 21 California missions. The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank until 1853. The institution became known as the University of Santa Clara in 1912, when the schools of engineering and law were added. For 110 years, Santa Clara University was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates and Santa Clara University became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students and faculty tripled over the next decade and the university began the largest building program in school history with eight residence halls, a student union, and an athletic stadium. In the early 1970s, the Board of Trustees voted to limit the size of the undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for generations to come. In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name. Bibliography: Santa Clara University. “About SCU – History.” www.scu.edu/about/history.cfm (Accessed Nov. 23, 2010) McKevitt, Gerald, S.J. The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1979.