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Michael Engh

American historian

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ6830124 ↗
Source-derived summary

Michael Eric Engh (born December 14, 1949) is an American Jesuit priest, academic and historian. He was the 28th President of Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California from January 5, 2009, to June 30, 2019.

Biography

Engh is a third generation Californian. He is a historian specializing in the history of California and the American West and previously was a professor of history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He was also the dean of Loyola Marymount's Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts before becoming president of Santa Clara University.

President of Santa Clara University

Engh was appointed president of Santa Clara University in 2008, succeeding Father Paul Locatelli, who had been president from 1988 until 2008.

Engh officially became the 28th President of Santa Clara University on January 5, 2009. His inauguration was held on April 24, 2009, at Santa Clara's Leavey Event Center. The ceremony was attended by approximately 1,500 guests, including the leaders or representatives of more than 100 universities and colleges. He was re-elected to a six-year term in November 2013, a post he held until June 30, 2019.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Michael Engh” as american historian. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Michael, Engh and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1949, 2009, 2019, 2008—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1949-12-14. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Michael, Engh and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Michael Engh”, the useful work is to connect “american historian” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6830124. VIAF identifies the subject as 11490642. The Library of Congress control number is n91107753. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1949, 2009, 2019 and 2008.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Michael Engh”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Michael Engh primary sources, Michael Engh archive and Michael research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Michael Engh”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Michael Engh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.