Burchard Villiger

Joseph Burchard Villiger (May 14, 1819 – November 5, 1902) was appointed Santa Clara University's fourth president in 1861 after the presidency of Felix Cicaterri. Burchard Villiger had served as the president of two Jesuit Colleges in the east. During his presidency at Santa Clara University in California United States he had built the Science Building, a Jesuit Residence, and the Facade of the Old Mission Church. He served as president till 1865 which coincided with the Civil War. Later Villiger was rector of the College of the Sacred Heart in Woodstock, Maryland.

In 1857, Villiger was appointed president of Washington Seminary (later known as Gonzaga College High School) in Washington, D.C., succeeding Hippolyte J. De Neckere. His presidency came in an end the following year, and he was succeeded by Charles H. Stonestreet.

He retired to his Church of the Gesú of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he died on .

Early life Burchard Villiger was born on the morning of May 14, 1819, in Auw, Aargau, Switzerland. That afternoon, he was baptized at the local parish church by the pastor, a Benedictine priest from Engelberg Abbey, and he was given the Christian name of Joseph Burchard.Efn|Though his full name was Joseph Burchard Villiger, he was known only as Burchard Villiger in everyday life.

Villiger had five siblings. His older sister, Mary, became a Benedictine nun at the Sarnen Abbey, and his younger sister, married. His three younger brothers also married and had families. and he received his First Communion when he was eight years old. Shortly after his First Communion, After three years of study, the Swiss government prohibited Catholic monks from teaching, and Villiger continued his studies at a gymnasium in Zug, which was taught by secular priests. The Jesuits opened a college in Schwyz that year, and Villiger enrolled.

In August 1838, after completing his study of rhetoric, He was admitted on October 4, and proceeded to the Jesuit novitiate in Brig-Glis, Valais.

The Sonderbund War broke out in 1845, and Villiger was forced out of Fribourg with all his fellow Jesuits. succeeding Hippolyte J. De Neckere. Villiger's tenure was short-lived, lasting only nine months, because on April 25, 1858, he was named to succeed Charles H. Stonestreet as the provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province,

Villiger's term as provincial came to an end on November 28, 1859, with the arrival of Felix Sopranis as the Jesuit visitor for North America.

Santa Clara College On May 21, 1861, Villiger arrived at Santa Clara College, succeeding Felix Cicaterri as its president. He found the school $30,000 in debt.

Later years Villiger died on November 5, 1902, in Philadelphia.