Fr. Michael Doyle (1968-1970)

(Principal: Jun 1968 – Jun 1970)

           Michael Doyle arrived in India from Australia early in 1955 and immediately joined the staff of St Xavier’s. As a boy at Xavier College, a Jesuit boarding school in Melbourne, Michael had been a pupil of Fr John Moore, and imbibed at an early age the feel of what a good Jesuit school should be. His three years as Fr Moore’s understudy left him with a deep appreciation of the value of the education the school was imparting. To hone his skills as an educator he spent two years at Boston College and returned to India in 1965 with a Master’s Degree in Vocational-Educational Counseling. Three years later he succeeded Fr Maurice Dullard as Principal.

          During his short term of two years as Principal two things stand out. He made some adjustments to the living arrangements for senior boys to give them a greater sense of freedom and to encourage them to develop into more responsible young adults. And the other was on the playing field. Michael inculcated in all levels of the boys a healthy competiveness though games and the House system and through the annual sports day. The refined organization of the sports day became a prototype adopted by Jesuit and other schools throughout the area.

         In 1970 Michael made a major decision and resigned from the Jesuit order. He returned to Australia and soon was deeply involved in educational work there. Born in Batavia (now Jakarta) and educated in Australia, India and the USA, Michael has a rich cosmopolitan outlook and always relates easily to others. He is in regular contact with HOXAns. His most recent visit to Hazaribag was for the golden jubilee of HOXA in 2008.