Maurice A. Donahue (September 21, 1918 – January 13, 1999) was an American politician who served as

President of the Massachusetts Senate The president of the Massachusetts Senate is the presiding officer. Unlike the United States Congress, in which the vice president of the United States is the ''ex officio'' president of the United States Senate, in Massachusetts, the president ...

from 1964 to 1971. Donahue was first elected to the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

in 1950 after spending two years in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

. He became the Senate Majority Leader in 1958 and was elected Senate President in 1964. In the same year, and in conjunction with House

Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

Robert H. Quinn, Donahue introduced a corresponding bill in the Senate to establish the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

. In 1970 he ran for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

, but lost the Democratic nomination to Boston Mayor Kevin H. White. He resigned from the Senate in 1971 to become Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Governmental Services at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. In February 1989 the Institute was renamed in his honor and is now known as the UMass Donahue Institute. He was a

Knight of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. The org ...

and a past grand knight of Holyoke Council number 90. Honoring Donahue is the Maurice A. Donohue Elementary School and the Maurice A. Donahue Building at

Holyoke Community College Holyoke Community College (HCC) is a public community college in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It offers associate degrees and certificate programs, as well as a transfer program for students to earn credits for transfer to other colleges. It was the f ...

both located in

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Maurice A. 1918 births 1999 deaths Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Holyoke, Massachusetts Presidents of the Massachusetts Senate University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court

See also

References