Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., Named New President of Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. was elected the 31st president of the College of the Holy Cross today.  The College's Board of Trustees announced his selection following a meeting this morning.  He will assume his duties in July 2000.

Holy Cross, founded in 1843, is the oldest Catholic college in New England.  Fr. McFarland will succeed Frank Vellaccio, Ph.D., who has served as acting president since July 1998.

Fr. McFarland is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash.  He has been at Gonzaga since 1996, where he is also a professor of computer science.

"Fr. McFarland brings proven leadership to the presidency of Holy Cross," says H.E. Lentz '67, chairman of the Board of Trustees.  "As Dean at Gonzaga he manages a large budget, is responsible for faculty and staff hiring, promotion and tenure decisions, program content and quality and academic standards.  He also serves on Gonzaga's Board of Members."

Previously, he taught at Boston College from 1986 to 1996.  As associate professor of computer science he created new courses in ethics and computers, computer architecture and digital systems.  He created a laboratory for digital electronics and developed tutorial materials for a course on computers in management.  He served as department chair for three years during his tenure at BC.

Fr. McFarland was born in Boston in 1948.  He lived for a time in California and later graduated from Xavier High School (now closed) in Concord, Mass.  He completed his bachelor's degree in physics at Cornell University in 1969.

He earned a master's degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering (computer engineering) at Carnegie-Mellon University.  He worked as a consultant from 1985-86 at the AT&T Bell Laboratories and, in 1990, was a postdoctoral fellow there.

Fr. McFarland joined the Jesuits in 1975.  He studied at the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and earned a master's in divinity and Th.M. in social ethics.  He was ordained in the St. Joseph Memorial Chapel at Holy Cross by Bishop Timothy J. Harrington '41 in 1984.

The new Holy Cross president enjoys running six days each week in his free time.  He is also involved in pastoral work at several parishes and a convent in Spokane, in addition to offering liturgies and retreats at Gonzaga.