The presidential torch at Boston College will be passed on Friday when the Rev. John T. “Jack” Butler, university vice president of mission and ministry, takes over for the Rev. William P. Leahy, who is retiring after leading the Catholic university for 30 years, its longest presidential tenure.
Leahy, 78, was appointed as the college’s 25th president in 1996. He announced his retirement in 2024. Leahy’s tenure was “the longest and most significant in University history,” the university said in a statement.
Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, Boston College is the largest Catholic university in New England.
Friday marks a “historic day” as Leahy ends his “transformative” presidency and Butler, 63, succeeds him as the college’s 26th president, the spokesperson said. July 31 also marks the Feast Day of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus.
“The BC community is grateful to Fr. Leahy for all he has done to lead Boston College into the ranks of the nation’s best schools, and excited for Fr. Butler and the dynamic promise his presidency holds for the future,” the spokesperson said in an email to the Globe Thursday.
Butler’s formal inauguration is scheduled for Oct. 15-17 and will include academic symposia, a Mass, and a formal inauguration ceremony.
This summer, the school’s Board of Trustees honored Leahy with the title “president emeritus,” the first such designation in the university’s history.
Leahy’s immediate plans are to do some traveling and then serve as an assistant, as needed, to Butler, said Jack Dunn, the spokesperson.
“Boston College experienced an unparalleled transformation in American higher education, rising from an emergent national university to an internationally respected Jesuit, Catholic, liberal arts research university consistently ranked among the nation’s best schools,” the university’s statement said.
Leahy, a native of Iowa, grew up in the Midwest and traveled to California, where he earned prestigious degrees. His teaching career took him to Marquette University, another Jesuit school, in Milwaukee, where he rose to executive vice president, his last stop before Boston.
When Leahy arrived at BC, he quickly embarked on an ambitious growth plan for the school. A $1 billion expansion plan dramatically changed the campus that straddles both Boston and the Chestnut Hill area of Newton. Academic buildings, dormitories, and athletic facilities were renovated or replaced on the main campus.
In the early 2000s, as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston faced millions of dollars in lawsuits amid the clergy sex abuse crisis, BC purchased the archdiocese’s buildings and land across Commonwealth Avenue from the main campus.
The property now houses the university’s art museum, school of theology, and athletic facilities for BC baseball and softball teams. BC also launched an academic response to the sex abuse crisis, launching the Church in the 21st Century Center, which examines the challenges and issues facing the global Catholic Church.
In the nearly three decades since then, the college’s endowment has ballooned to more than $5 billion, the campus expanded by 150 acres, full-time faculty grew by more than 350 to a present total of 932, and the number of student applicants increased from 16,500 to nearly 42,000.
In May 2024, Forbes magazine listed Boston College on its list of “New Ivies,” a mix of public and private institutions.
Butler, known as “Father Jack,” has worked at the Gothic-style campus for 24 years. He was ordained in 2000 and took his final vows as a Jesuit in 2015. He is originally from Atlanta.
Butler has served as an educational administrator, a trained counselor, and spiritual director. Three years ago, he told the student newspaper at his alma mater, St. Thomas University in Miami, that he had worked in prison ministry for three decades.
“Fr. Butler is a unique and special person,” Travis Rhodes, chair of the college’s board of trustees, said in an email to the Globe Thursday. “He connects with others in a way that is truly exceptional and brings to the position an inimitable knowledge and understanding of Boston College, given his leadership experiences during the past 20 years.”
“He is a visionary, gifted communicator, and proven problem solver, who will devote everything he has to enhancing the University and its distinctive strengths among the nation’s best schools,” Rhodes said. “This is an exciting time for Boston College.”
Butler most recently served as the college’s Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry, which oversees the Office of Campus Ministry. That office organizes campusMasses, retreats, and service programs. He has served as a chaplain for the BC football team and been a member of the president’s senior leadership team since 2010.
Butler’s parents were from Providence, and he returned there to earn a graduate degree in theology at Providence College. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in pastoral counseling at Loyola University Maryland in 1995.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.