Patrick Francis Healy

The Reverend Patrick Francis Healy SJ
Healy in 1882
29th President of Georgetown University
In office 1873–1882
Preceded by	John Early
Succeeded by	James A. Doonan
Personal details
Born	(1834-02-27)February 27, 1834 Macon, Georgia, U.S.
Died	January 10, 1910(1910-01-10) (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Jesuit Community Cemetery
Relatives	Healy family
Education	College of the Holy Cross (BA) Saint-Sulpice Seminary Catholic University of Louvain (PhD)
Orders
Ordination	September 3, 1864

Patrick Francis Healy SJ (February 27, 1834 – January 10, 1910) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who was an influential president of Georgetown University, becoming known as its "second founder". The university's flagship building, Healy Hall, bears his name. Though he considered himself and was largely accepted as White, Healy was posthumously recognized as the first Black American to earn a Ph.D. and to enter the Jesuit order and become the president of a predominantly White university.

Healy was born in Georgia to a family that produced many Catholic leaders. His mother was one-eighth Black and his father was a White Irish emigrant. Under Georgia law, Healy's father technically owned his wife and children as slaves. Healy and his siblings were sent north by their father to be educated at the College of the Holy Cross, and Healy continued his higher education at the Catholic University of Louvain, where he received his doctorate in philosophy in 1864. He returned to America and started as the chair of philosophy at Georgetown University.

Healy was elected president of Georgetown University in 1873 and appointed rector the following year. Seeking to transform the institution into a modern university, he oversaw a period of extensive growth. He increased the prominence of the sciences, raised the standards of the School of Medicine, and oversaw a rapid expansion of the Law School. He also constructed a grand building that became known as Healy Hall, which left the university in substantial debt. In 1882, he went to live with his brother, James, the Bishop of Portland, Maine, and the two traveled extensively throughout Europe. Afterwards, Healy returned to pastoral work in Rhode Island and New York City, before returning to Georgetown, where he died.