‘Father of UMass Lowell’ Honored with Dedication of Space on Campus

04/23/2021

Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell today paid tribute to the institution’s first chancellor with the unveiling of a space on campus dedicated in his memory.

Known as the “Father of UMass Lowell,” William Hogan served UMass Lowell in nearly every capacity – as a professor, department head, college dean, vice president, president and chancellor – through all of the university’s modern incarnations over more than 40 years.

Now, the William T. Hogan Engineering Dean’s Suite, located in Southwick Hall, will serve as a testament to Hogan’s visionary leadership for future generations of River Hawks.

UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney ’75, ’92; UMass President Marty Meehan ’78; and Francis College of Engineering Dean James Sherwood officially dedicated the space in person during a ceremony viewed online by Hogan’s family and friends.

“Bill Hogan was an architect and leader in the transformation of UMass Lowell, which is now among the strongest public research universities in the country,” Moloney said. “This year, perhaps more than any other, we’ve learned how important it is to celebrate our history and connectedness. This new dean’s suite will pay tribute to Hogan as a scholar, mentor and friend so that all who teach, study, work and visit here may know our roots as we continue to grow.”

Across four decades, Hogan worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff, and to strengthen the university’s education and research programs. After serving as an engineer in the U.S. Army and with General Electric, he joined Lowell Technological Institute, one of UMass Lowell’s predecessor institutions, in 1963 as a professor of mechanical engineering. There, he rose to become head of the department.

In 1973, Hogan was named the first dean of the institute’s newly organized College of Engineering and in 1975, Hogan was appointed the first vice president for academic affairs when the institute merged with Lowell State Teachers College to form the University of Lowell. Within six years, he became the institution’s first president.

When the University of Lowell joined the UMass system in 1991, Hogan became its first chancellor. Under his leadership, enrollment at UMass Lowell increased and accreditation soared. Shortly before retiring in 2006, Hogan helped develop a plan for a $266 million renovation of the university’s three campuses, taking the first steps toward establishing UMass Lowell as a world-class research and development center.

Hogan also worked to grow the region’s economy beyond campus, launching several revitalization initiatives in cooperation with the city of Lowell, including the Riverwalk, LeLacheur Park, the Lowell Summer Music Series, the expansion of the Tsongas Industrial History Center and the construction of what is now the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. He passed away in 2017.

“Bill Hogan was responsible for immense transformations that lifted up this institution. He laid the groundwork for a true national research university to emerge from the regionally excellent school that he presided over for so many years. Among his greatest legacies are his success at attracting some of the world’s best faculty to Lowell and his understanding that this university and city needed each other; he saw to it that they rose together. When I became chancellor, we were perfectly positioned to grow,” said UMass President Marty Meehan, a UMass Lowell graduate and, like Hogan, a Lowell native.

Along with Moloney and Meehan, speakers during the dedication included Hogan’s daughter, Colleen Hogan Mazzola and his granddaughter, Mary Rose Mazzola; former University of Massachusetts trustee and UMass Lowell alumnus William O’Shea ’69; and Sherwood, whose office is inside in the newly dedicated suite.

“This is a proud, proud day for the Francis College of Engineering. Bill Hogan was one of ours, through and through, and I am so pleased to be able to say that I counted him as a colleague and a friend for many years,” Sherwood said. “He would be proud to know the college still attracts humble, hardworking and talented students who love to learn and that our research enterprise and academic programs – which have grown tremendously – now put us at the forefront of engineering education.”

Hogan’s commitment to higher education lives on at the university through the William T. Hogan Scholarship Fund for Innovation and Engagement. Chantohn Louangphixai, a 2020 UMass Lowell graduate from Dracut who received his bachelor’s degree in history, is the latest of more than a dozen scholarship recipients assisted by the fund since its inception in 2007. Members of the public who would like to honor Hogan and his legacy with donations to the fund may do at www.alumni.uml.edu/HoganScholarship.

UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu