Charles J. Dougherty (born June 28, 1949) is an American academic who served as the 12th president of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An expert in the field of health care ethics, Dougherty has published two books on the subject. In the fall of 2012, Duquesne welcomed its largest freshman class in history, a record again topped the following year. Duquesne was listed as one of the top twenty most efficient national universities by U.S. News; Duquesne was the only Pennsylvania school as well as the only Catholic school on the list.
On February 13, 2015, just two days after the death of his predecessor John E. Murray, Jr., Dougherty announced he would step down as President effective at the end of his third term. On November 4, 2015, Duquesne University named Law School Dean Ken Gormley as Dougherty's successor, effective July 1, 2016.
Community involvement
Dougherty has worked with the Hospital Trustees Project at the Hastings Center and the New York Academy of Medicine, as well as the National Coalition on Catholic Health Care. Dougherty and his wife, Sandra, who recently retired as a judge on the Nebraska District Court in Douglas County, have two children.