In 1985, Boston College awarded Fr. Donovan the Joseph Coolidge Shaw, SJ, Medal. In making the presentation, University President J. Donald Monan, SJ, cited Fr. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1933, and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1943. Donovan has written several score of articles, mostly on the subject of higher education, which have appeared in such publications as Jesuit Education Quarterly, America, Commonweal and Catholic Educational Review.
Funeral arrangements are pending.