Charles J. Dougherty is the current President of Duquesne University

Duquesne University

Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. An expert in the field of health care ethics

Medical ethics

Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...

, Dougherty has published two books on the subject.

Personal life

Charles Dougherty was born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and attended St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington

South Huntington, New York

South Huntington is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 9,465 at the 2000 census....

.

Dougherty and his wife, Sandra, who is a judge on the Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 District Court in Douglas County

Douglas County, Nebraska

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 463,585 people, 182,194 households, and 115,146 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,401 people per square mile . There were 192,672 housing units at an average density of 582 per square mile...

, have two children.

Academic career

The first member of his family to attend college, Dougherty received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Bonaventure University

St. Bonaventure University

St. Bonaventure University is a private, Franciscan Catholic university, located in Allegany, Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students....

 in 1971. He went on to earn a master's degree and doctorate in the same subject from the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 in 1973 and 1975.

President of Creighton University

Dougherty joined the faculty of Creighton University in 1975, chairing the philosophy department there from 1981 to 1989. He served as the first director of the Creighton Center for Health Policy and Ethics from 1988 to 1995, a position which he left when he was appointed the university's academic vice president. He held that post from 1995 to 2001, during which time he was acting university president for a brief period in 2000.

President of Duquesne University

Dougherty was elected president of Duquesne University by its Board of Directors in May 2001.

Community involvement

Dougherty has worked with the Hospital Trustees Project at the Hastings Center

Hastings Center

The Hastings Center, founded in 1969, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit bioethics research institute based in the United States. It is dedicated to the examination of essential questions in health care, biotechnology, and the environment...

 and the New York Academy of Medicine

New York Academy of Medicine

The New York Academy of Medicine was founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York City metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health reform...

, as well as the National Coalition on Catholic Health Care. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Health Association and the Board of Editors at both Creighton University Press and Health Progress. Dougherty has also served as a Commissioner for the State of Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, a government ethics panel. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Mercy Hospital; Mercy Health Systems in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Allegheny Conference on Community Development

Allegheny Conference

The Allegheny Conference on Community Development is an nonprofit, private sector leadership organization dedicated to economic development and quality of life issues for the greater Pittsburgh region, Pennsylvania, United States....

; Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership; World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh

World Affairs Councils of America

The World Affairs Councils of America represents and supports the largest national non-partisan network of local councils that are dedicated to educating, inspiring and engaging Americans in international affairs and the critical global issues of our times. The network consists of 94 councils in 40...

; and the Urban League of Pittsburgh. He serves on the board of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania and is the Chair of the President's Committee of the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education

Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education

The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education is a consortium of colleges and universities in the Pittsburgh metro area. The organization exists to allow the schools and their students to take advantage of each others resources and to facilitate sharing them....

.