Fairfield University the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions. In 1941, Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J., Provincial for the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, received written permission from Bishop Maurice F. McAuliffe of the Hartford Archdiocese to establish a Jesuit high school and college in the southwestern area of Connecticut. Fairfield University was officially founded in 1942 when the Jesuits acquired the two contiguous estates of the Brewster Jennings and Walter Lashar families. Upon its founding, it became the 26th Jesuit college/university in the United States. In the same year, Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J. appointed the Rev.
Commencement at Central Connecticut State University conferee has given the commencement address. Although significant non-degree honors have historically been awarded by the institution, honorary doctorates were not conferred until after Central Connecticut State College was renamed Central Connecticut State University in 1983. U.S. President Jimmy Carter became the first recipient on April 16, 1985, receiving a Doctor of Humane Letters. The most recent awardees are Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., former US Senator and Governor of Connecticut (D.P.S., 2009) and Leszek Balcerowicz, professor, Warsaw School of Economics and former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland (Sc.D., 2011). In addition to Carter, U.S. Presidents Gerald R. Ford (L.H.D., 1988),