Michael C. McFarland


Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. was the 31st president of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He succeeded Acting President Frank Vellaccio on July 1, 2000, and was succeeded by Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J.

Biography

Childhood

McFarland was born in Boston in 1948. He was raised in Waltham, Massachusetts and for a short time in California.

Education

McFarland received his bachelor's degree in physics from Cornell University in 1969. He gained his Master's degree in 1979 and his doctorate in 1981, both in computer engineering, from Carnegie Mellon University. McFarland joined the Jesuit order in 1975 and studied at the Weston School of Theology and earned a Master's in divinity and Th. M. in social ethics. He was ordained at the College of the Holy Cross in 1984.

Career

McFarland previously worked for AT&T Bell Labs conducting research in computer-aided design of digital systems. Before going to Holy Cross, he was a computer science professor and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gonzaga University.

President of the College of the Holy Cross

McFarland succeeded Acting Holy Cross President Frank Vellaccio on July 1, 2000.
In February 2011, he announced his intention to step down from office. McFarland was succeeded in office by Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J., who was unanimously elected as the 32nd President of Holy Cross by the board of trustees on May 6, 2011.
McFarland left office on January 9, 2012.

IEEE

McFarland has articles published in the Proceedings of the IEEE, the IEEE Transactions on Computers, the IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, Formal Methods for System Design, the Journal of Systems and Software, Computer, and Technology and Society. For three years he was an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems and has participated in numerous program committees for conferences.

Board Memberships

In addition to his responsibilities as Holy Cross' president, McFarland serves on the following: