Staff Reports
The Rev. John G. Nugent, C.M., who served as Niagara University’s 21st president from 1981 to 1984, passed away due to natural causes on Feb. 4 at the St. Catherine’s Infirmary in Philadelphia. He was 87.
“The entire Niagara University family is mourning the loss of Father John Nugent,” current Niagara University President Father Joseph L. Levesque said in a released statement Tuesday. “Father Nugent played a key role in the long history of Niagara. In his time as president, he made the university much stronger and he guided it with a keen focus on the Vincentian mission of the university.”
Nugent was ordained a priest on May, 26, 1949, and received a Doctor of Canon Laws degree in 1953 from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Before joining Niagara, he was a faculty member at St. Joseph’s College in Princeton, N.J.
Nugent began his time at Niagara in 1966 as the dean of the Graduate School and the School of Education. He left that position in 1972, and then held a seat on the Niagara University board of trustees. He was named chairman of the board in 1978.
He became president of Niagara in August of 1981, and he was immediately charged with establishing fiscal stability for the university. He instituted tough fiscal controls, which played a major role in creating a stronger economic condition at the university.
After leaving Niagara, Nugent served in many roles, including professor of Canon Law at Mary Immaculate Seminary, member of the formation team for the DePaul Novitiate in Germantown, Pa., and general ministry St. Vincent’s Seminary in Germantown.
A mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Tuesday at the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Philadelphia.
