The Fairfield University community is saddened by the loss of a passionate and caring alumnus and trustee, E. Gerald “Jerry” Corrigan ’63 on Tuesday, May 17. He is survived by his wife Cathy E. Minehan, and children Brian, Elizabeth, Karen, and Melissa. He was 80 years old.

A native of Waterbury, Conn., Corrigan earned his bachelor’s in economics from Fairfield, and a master’s and PhD in economics in 1965 and 1971, respectively, from Fordham University. His career began at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1968 when he joined the Domestic Research Division as an economist. He went on to serve in various positions at the Federal Reserve. In 1976, he was named vice president of the bank, and in 1979 he became special assistant to Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Paul A. Volcker. The following year, in 1980, he was promoted to president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and served in that position until 1985 when he returned to the New York Fed to serve as President and CEO. Corrigan ended his 25-year career with the Federal Reserve System in 1993. In 1994, he joined Goldman Sachs as chairman of International Advisors and senior advisor to the Executive Committee, and was named managing director in 1996. He eventually retired from Goldman Sachs in 2016.

Corrigan was actively engaged with Fairfield since 1984, and was one of the University’s top benefactors. He served on the Board of Trustees for 11 years and was elected Trustee Emeritus in 2009. Jerry was honored with Fairfield’s 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal in 1992 and received the Alumni Personal Achievement award in 1981. He was a two-time keynote speaker for the Dolan Lecture Series (2000 and 2009), served on the executive committee for the Our Promise Campaign, and was an honorary chair of the Fairfield Rising campaign committee. He was also active in reunions, the Fairfield Awards Dinner, the Wall Street Reception committee, and attended many lectures and events.

The 1963 alumnus made generous contributions that continue to impact Fairfield students today. In 2002, the “Mary Hardy Corrigan Reading Room" in the Fairfield University DiMenna-Nyselius Library was named in honor of Jerry’s mother. In 2004, Corrigan and his wife also endowed the Ernesto Zedillo Scholarship for Mexican or first-generation Mexican-American students in honor of Ernesto Zedillo, director at the Yale Center for Study of Globalization, who delivered the Fairfield Awards Dinner keynote address that year. The couple also established the E. Gerald Corrigan '63 Endowed Scholarship Fund and the E. Gerald Corrigan '63 Chair in the Humanities & Social Sciences in 2006.

Corrigan’s commitment to Fairfield was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his legacy of service and philanthropy. He maintained strong relationships with and supported a wide range of public policy and non-profit organizations, such as The American Ditchley Foundation; The Bretton Woods Committee; The Chicago Mercantile Exchange; WNET Channel 13, Public Broadcasting; Financial Services Volunteer Corps Steering Committee; The Group of Thirty; The Institute for Financial Stability, Bank for International Settlements; The Japan Society; The Per Jacobsson Foundation; The Trilateral Commission; and was co-chairman of the Aspen Institute, Program on the World Economy.

The Fairfield family lost an amazing member and the world lost an amazing person, but Mr. Corrigan's spirit will surely live on at the University and all of the other institutions and people he touched and supported. He will be remembered at a service at St. Cecilia's Church in Boston on Monday, May 23, 2022 at 10 a.m. Family and close friends will be invited to attend in person; viewing will also be available virtually. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jerry's memory may be made to Alzheimer's disease research at Massachusetts General Hospital.