Timothy Stafford Healy SJ (April 25, 1923 – December 30, 1992) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who straddled the religious and secular life, serving as the vice chancellor of the City University of New York, the president of Georgetown University, and the president of the New York Public Library.

It was highly unusual for a Catholic priest to hold a senior administrative role at an American public university.

Entering the job during a time of intense student protests, Healy was responsible for implementing the university system's open admissions policy.

[2] Healy graduated from Regis High School in 1939,[2] and entered the Society of Jesus the following year, despite his parents' initial misgivings.

He began his higher studies at Woodstock College in Maryland, where he received degrees in English literature and philosophy.

[1] He spent four years at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium,[2] receiving a Licentiate of Sacred Theology.

[2] His doctoral thesis, titled John Donne's Ignatius His Conclave: An Edition of the Latin and English Texts with Introduction and Commentary, was published by Oxford University Press.

[6] In 1968, Healy attempted to establish a new liberal arts college for poor students in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn; this project did not materialize for lack of funds.

[1] That year, CUNY, as well as the entire city government, faced a budgetary crisis so severe that the chancellor, Albert H. Bowker, announced that without outside funding from New York State, no freshman class could be admitted in 1969.

[7] At the same time, black and Puerto Rican students increasingly protested what they considered inadequate representation at CUNY colleges.

[10] As the occupation continued for weeks, the subject became a politically contentious issue in the mayor's and governor's offices, as well as among the city's congressional representatives.

[6] The committee's ambitious desire for their new president was someone who would create a long-term vision for the university, dramatically expand its fundraising, and became a national spokesman for Georgetown and private higher education more generally.

[21] To support this era of expansion, Healy promoted aggressive growth of the university's endowment, which stood at $37 million when he took office.

The number of applicants increased by 2.5 times during Healy's presidency, and the acceptance rate dropped from 44% in 1975 to 20% in 1986,[27] making it one of the most selective universities in the country.

[29] In 1984, the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team won the NCAA tournament, under the leadership of coach John Thompson.

[31] With the increase in the caliber of students came an uptick in the number of graduates receiving prestigious awards, such as the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.

Adhering to Catholic doctrine, he refused official university recognition and subsidization of a gay student group,[1] which prompted a lawsuit.

[40] Contrary to the wishes of the Archdiocese of Washington, Healy declined to appeal the case to the U.S Supreme Court, stating that he desired to "pull the community back together.

[2] In addition to his role at the public library, Healy continued to teach at Georgetown for the rest of his life and was an avid Latinist, particularly interested in Virgil.

[2] On December 30, 1992, Healy suffered a heart attack in Newark Liberty International Airport while returning from a vacation in Scottsdale, Arizona.

His funeral was held at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan,[1] and his body was returned to Georgetown, where he was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery.