Brother John G. Driscoll, C.F.C.

Brother John G. Driscoll, C.F.C., who served for 24 years as president of Iona College and led a broad expansion of the college in academics and athletics, died Sept. 21 at St. Joseph’s Care Center in New Rochelle. He was 77.

After retiring as president, he pursued his interest in biblical scholarship and the Jewish tradition and became a noted lecturer internationally.

A Funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 27 at Holy Family Church in New Rochelle.

Brother Driscoll, an Iona alumnus, was president of Iona from 1971 to 1995. He also served the college as a professor of mathematics and a member of the board of legal trustees.

Brother James A. Liguori, C.F.C., who succeeded Brother Driscoll as president in 1995, said in a statement, “The Iona College community is deeply saddened by the passing of Brother Driscoll, who left a rich legacy as an inspired educator, visionary administrator, biblical scholar and as a remarkable human being.”

Warren Rosenberg, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Iona, said in a statement that Brother Driscoll was “an educational visionary who helped transform Iona College into a place of academic significance.”

He said Brother Driscoll instituted a new way of teaching science to students who were not science majors. Instead of studying pure science, he continued, “they would study science in its social context,” learning how science “is used for the betterment of society” and how it affects daily life. Dr. Rosenberg noted that Brother Driscoll made the curriculum “more international” and “supported extensive faculty travel around the world.”

Brother Driscoll made improvements to Iona’s physical plant, Dr. Rosenberg added, including “the first new residence hall construction in decades.”

In 1994 Brother Driscoll was inducted into the Iona Goal Club Hall of Fame for enhancing the sports program at Iona. He led the building of Mulcahy Center and Mazzella Field; expanded women’s athletics; developed athletic scholarships in almost all sports; put Iona into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference; upgraded to Division I-AA football; and raised the competitive standing of Iona’s teams.

After leaving Iona he moved to Jerusalem, where he studied the Bible, Hebrew and Jewish history and tradition. He taught at the Bat Kol Institute and was scholar-in-residence at Hebrew University, both in Jerusalem. He spoke on biblical studies taught through Jewish traditions to Christian seminary groups and at religious education centers in the United States and overseas.

Born in Manhattan to Irish immigrant parents, he entered the Congregation of Christian Brothers (Edmund Rice Christian Brothers) in 1948 and professed final vows in 1958. He held a bachelor’s degree in physics, summa cum laude, from Iona, and a doctorate in theoretical mathematics from Columbia University. He also held certification in counseling psychology.

He taught in Manhattan at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, 1954-1956; Rice High School in Harlem, 1956-1957; and Power Memorial High School, 1957-1958 and 1961-1965. He also taught high school students in the West Indies, and undergraduate and graduate students at universities in New York, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin.

He lectured widely on education, psychology and religious life in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.

Brother Driscoll received honorary doctorates from the National University of Ireland, Galway; Pace University; St. Thomas Aquinas College; and the College of New Rochelle.

He is survived by two brothers, Brother Michael P. Driscoll, C.F.C., and Kevin J. Driscoll, and a sister, Geraldine Cryan.

Burial was at Christian Brothers Cemetery in West Park.