William Boylan

William Aloysius Boylan (January 6, 1869 – July 8, 1940) was the first President of Brooklyn College.

Career Boylan was born in New York City, to Arthur and Anne Boylan. He attended St. Francis Xavier College (B.A. and M.A.), New York University (Master of Pedagogy), and Fordham University (Doctor of Philosophy).

In his career, he was District Superintendent of Schools (beginning in 1913) and Associate Superintendent of Schools, with the New York City Board of Education (beginning in 1927). Boylan resigned as President and retired in September 1938 due to illness, as he was suffering from neuritis, and died on July 8, 1940, at 71 years of age. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York.

He wrote textbooks on reading, writing, and mathematics. Boylan co-authored City Arithmetics, Charles E. Merrill Company (1916), Correct Spelling for Graded Schools, Laurel Book Company (1929), and Graded Drill Exercises in Corrective English, Noble and Noble, Incorporated (1939).

Boylan Hall, on the campus of Brooklyn College, was originally called the “Academic Building,” and was later named after Boylan.