William Boylan

{{Short description|American academic administrator (1869–1940)}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = William Aloysius Boylan | honorific_suffix = | image =  | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt =  | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pronunciation = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1869|1|6}} | birth_place = New York City, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|7|8|1869|1|6}} | death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | burial_place =  | burial_coordinates =  | monuments = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = *St. Francis Xavier College (B.A. and M.A.) *New York University (Master of Pedagogy) *Fordham University (Doctor of Philosophy) | occupation = President of Brooklyn College | years_active = | known_for = First President of Brooklyn College | notable_works =  | title =  | term = | predecessor = | successor = Harry Gideonse }} '''William Aloysius Boylan''' (January 6, 1869 – July 8, 1940) was the first President of Brooklyn College.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/07/09/archives/wa-boylan-dies-excollege-head-first-president-of-brooklyn-college.html|title=W.A. Boylan Dies; Ex-College Head; First President of Brooklyn College Succumbs to Long Illness at Age of 71; Educator for 40 Years Before Joining Higher System Was a District and Associate Superintendent of Schools|newspaper=The New York Times |date=9 July 1940}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSAhPQAACAAJ&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college|title=Brooklyn College: Inauguration of Dr. William A. Boylan as the First President; First Commencement Exercises, Class of 1932, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Tuesday, June 21st, 1932, at 8|year=1932|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780374532444|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780374532444/page/15 15]|quote=william boylan brooklyn college.|title=American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia|first=Joan|last=Biskupic|date=2009|author-link=Joan Biskupic|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=9780374532444 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Career== Boylan was born in New York City, to Arthur and Anne Boylan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHQIAAAAMAAJ&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college|title=Presidents of American Colleges and Universities|date=2019|publisher=Who's Who in American Education, Incorporated|via=Google Books}}</ref> He attended St. Francis Xavier College (B.A. and M.A.), New York University (Master of Pedagogy), and Fordham University (Doctor of Philosophy).<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal|url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bc_arch_historybc/185|title=Press release announcing the inauguration of William Boylan as President of Brooklyn College 1932, 4 pages total|last=Brooklyn College|date=25 June 1932|journal=Brooklyn College History}}</ref>

In his career, he was District Superintendent of Schools (beginning in 1913) and Associate Superintendent of Schools, with the New York City Board of Education (beginning in 1927).<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEgrDwAAQBAJ&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college&pg=PA14|title=CUNY's First Fifty Years: Triumphs and Ordeals of a People's University|first1=Anthony G.|last1=Picciano|first2=Chet|last2=Jordan|date=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781351982153|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GumeAAAAMAAJ&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college|title=Brooklyn College, the first half-century|first=Murray M.|last=Horowitz|date=1981|publisher=Brooklyn College Press|isbn=9780930888114|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/>

Jimmy Walker, the Mayor of New York City, appointed Boylan the first President of Brooklyn College in May 1930.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dOWK4GskwYC&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college|title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress|first=United States|last=Congress|year=1950|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|via=Google Books}}</ref> Boylan resigned as President and retired in September 1938 due to illness, as he was suffering from neuritis, and died on July 8, 1940, at 71 years of age.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/05/07/archives/boylans-leave-extended-brooklyn-college-head-ill-to-be-away-until.html|title=Boylan's Leave Extended; Brooklyn College Head, Ill, to Be Away Until September|newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 May 1938}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rCgAAAAMAAJ&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college|title=Bulletin to the Schools|year=1938|publisher=University of the State of New York Press|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=i-NRAQAAMAAJ&q=william+boylan+brooklyn+college ''Inside Education'' – Google Books], Volumes 26-27, New York State Education Department, 1939.</ref> He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-10-20 |title=Brooklyn College Presidents {{!}} BROOKLYN COLLEGE ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS |url=https://bcarchives1.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2015/10/20/brooklyn-college-presidents/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |language=en}}</ref>

He wrote textbooks on reading, writing, and mathematics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bcarchives1.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2015/10/20/brooklyn-college-presidents/|title=Brooklyn College Presidents|date=20 October 2015 |publisher=Brooklyn College Archives & Special Collections}}</ref> Boylan co-authored ''City Arithmetics'', Charles E. Merrill Company (1916), ''Correct Spelling for Graded Schools'', Laurel Book Company (1929), and ''Graded Drill Exercises in Corrective English'', Noble and Noble, Incorporated (1939).<ref>William Aloysius Boylan and Floyd R. Smith (1916). [https://books.google.com/books?id=OAYAAAAAYAAJ&q=%22William+Aloysius+Boylan%22 ''City Arithmetics''], Charles E. Merrill Company, {{ISBN|1358478686}}.</ref><ref>William Aloysius Boylan and Albert Steele Taylor (1939). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ebT-ugEACAAJ ''Graded Drill Exercises in Corrective English''], Noble and Noble, Incorporated.</ref><ref>William A. Boylan and Albert Steele Taylor (1929). [https://books.google.com/books?id=DpoFvAEACAAJ ''Correct Spelling for Graded Schools''], Laurel Book Company.</ref>

Boylan Hall, on the campus of Brooklyn College, was originally called the “Academic Building,” and was later named after Boylan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bcexcelsior.com/brooklyn-colleges-history-intersects-with-fdrs-new-deal/|title=Brooklyn College's History Intersects with FDR's New Deal|last=Sandy Mui|date=18 April 2018}}</ref>

== References ==  {{reflist}}

==External links== *William A. Boylan, [https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bc_arch_historybc/131/ "A New Brooklyn College Is Rising,"] ''The New York Times'', December 8, 1935

{{s-start}} {{succession box | before =| title = President of Brooklyn College | years = 1932–1938 | after = Harry Gideonse}} {{s-end}}

{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Boylan, William}} Category:1869 births Category:Xavier High School (New York City) alumni Category:New York University alumni Category:Fordham University alumni Category:Academics from New York City Category:School superintendents in New York (state) Category:Presidents of Brooklyn College Category:1940 deaths Category:New York City Department of Education