William J. Collins was a 20th century Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 priest who served as the 9th president of St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

 from 1956-1963.

Biography

He was born and raised in Millersburg,Iowa and was educated at St. Ambrose College. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Davenport

Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport is a diocese of the Catholic Church for the southeastern quarter of the state of Iowa. There are within the diocese...

 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in 1929.

He was referred to as "Sailor Bill" since he had served in the Navy

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

. He was assigned to the faculty of St. Ambrose College and served as chairman of the business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 and economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 departments on campus before becoming president. From 1953-1959 he was the moderator of the Te Deum, a lecture program that provided adult education in the diocese. He was named the president of St. Ambrose in 1956, the same year that Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

 named him a Domestic Prelate upon the nomination of Bishop Ralph Hayes

Ralph Leo Hayes

Ralph Leo Hayes was a 20th century bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Helena in the state of Montana from 1933–1935, and as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Davenport in the state of Iowa from 1944-1966...

. Hoping to get the school back on track financially, Collins raised tuition

Tuition

Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...

 and temporarily dropped the football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 program. During his term, East Hall (Rohlman Hall) was constructed. Collins was active in the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

and helped found the Council of World Affairs. After he served as president of the college he was assigned as the chaplain at the Kahl Home for the Aged and Infirmed in Davenport.