[1] He was born Harry James Ellis Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland, and entered the novitiate of the brothers in 1945, being given the religious name of Felician Patrick.
[2] In 1960, Ellis joined the faculty at La Salle College in Philadelphia as a member of the English Department.
[2] During his tenure as La Salle president, Ellis doubled the size of the campus and oversaw the building of new residence halls and a new modernized library.
While president he continued to teach English literature courses as he had during his 30 years as a professor at La Salle.
[2] The Catholic University of America has named the Brother Patrick Ellis Chair in Education in his honor.