Timothy S. Healy

Life & Legacy

Timothy Stafford Healy (April 25, 1923 – December 30, 1992) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who straddled the religious and secular life, serving as the vice chancellor of the City University of New York, the president of Georgetown University, and the president of the New York Public Library.
Born in New York City, Healy entered the Society of Jesus and began teaching. He eventually became the executive vice president at Fordham University, before being named the vice chancellor for academic affairs of CUNY in 1969. It was highly unusual for a Catholic priest to hold a senior administrative role at an American public university. Entering the job during a time of intense student protests, Healy was responsible for implementing the university system's open admissions policy.
In 1976, Healy left CUNY to become the president of Georgetown University. During his tenure, Georgetown rose to a position of national prominence, especially its law school, medical center, and School of Foreign Service. The number and quality of applicants increased, and admission became much more selective. Healy undertook an extensive building campaign and increased the size of the university's endowment sixfold. This prominence was furthered by the men's basketball team's 1984 NCAA Championship. However, facing declining admissions, the School of Dentistry closed in 1990.
Healy became the president of the New York Public Library in 1989. The appointment of a Catholic priest to the position drew criticism by some, while others rejected such criticism as being motivated by anti-Catholicism. Healy nearly doubled the library's endowment, opened the Science, Industry and Business Library, and sought to improve access to the local branches by poor children.