Paul B. and John J. Hurley
St. Benedict School alumni
"My Brother, the College President"
John J. Hurley says his brother’s career did not influence his own, but when Mr. Hurley becomes president of Canisius College in July, it’ll certainly look like it did. Like his brother, Paul B. Hurley, who is president of Trocaire College—another Roman Catholic institution in Buffalo, N.Y.—John will be his college’s first lay president.
The Hurley brothers are 12 years apart —Paul is the older one. They grew up with seven other siblings in Amherst and graduated from St. Benedict School on the corner or Main St. and Eggert Road. Though they wound up with the same job title, their careers have been quite different. Paul was a professor and administrator at Harrisburg Area Community College for 27 years before becoming President of Trocaire, in 1998. John was a lawyer for 16 years and partner at one of the most prominent firms in Buffalo before he began working in higher education as an administrator at Canisius—his and Paul’s alma mater, in 1997.
Now that they’re both administrators at Catholic institutions, they deal with some of the same issues. They talk to each other about which speakers to invite to campus, and how to gain the trust, as lay people, of their supporting congregations.
The Hurley brothers report that they have made their mothers very proud. Of Mama Hurley, John says: “This has really enhanced her brand out there at the independent-living community. People can’t believe she has two sons that are presidents of colleges.”
—Mary Helen Miller
Reprinted with permission from The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 2, 2010.
View the complete article at www.chronicle.com