Martin Hehir
| Rev. Martin A. Hehir, C.S.Sp. | |
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| Fourth President of Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost |
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In office 1899–1930 |
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| Preceded by | Rev. John T. Murphy |
| Succeeded by | Rev. Jeremiah J. Callahan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 10, 1855 Kildysart, County Clare, Ireland |
| Died | June 19, 1935 (aged 79) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Martin A. Hehir C.S.Sp. /ˈhɛər/ (November 10, 1855 – June 19, 1935) was a Roman Catholic priest and the fourth president of Pittsburgh Catholic College (later called Duquesne University). Hehir served as president of the university from 1899 until 1930. In Hehir's thirty-one years of presidency, the small college grew to become a university and the seventh largest Catholic school in the United States. After his retirement, Hehir served as Superior of the Holy Ghost Missionary College near Philadelphia, and then as the Superior of the Spiritan Fathers at Ferndale Seminary in Norwalk, Connecticut until his death.
Martin Hehir was born near Kildysart, County Clare, Ireland in 1855. He graduated from Blackrock College in 1887, having obtained a traditional classical education. After teaching there for three years, Hehir went on to receive theological training at the Theological College in Chevilly outside of Paris and was ordained as a priest in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost in 1883. He came to Pittsburgh in 1884 as a professor of languages at the Pittsburgh Catholic College. By 1892, he was Vice-President of the College.
Fifteen years after he had arrived in Pittsburgh, Father Hehir became president of the Pittsburgh Catholic College, succeeding Father John Murphy on August 20, 1899. His first move was to reorganize the College, creating a clearly defined College Division (akin to the four-year college track common in the United States today), as distinct from the Preparatory School, as well as taking steps to reconcile ethnic tensions between the Irish administration of the College and the German Catholic community in Pittsburgh. He also reconciled the college debt by 1900.
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