Cleary College / Cleary College

In 1883 Irish immigrant Patrick Roger Cleary (1858-1948) founded Cleary’s School of Penmanship. Starting with only two students, he soon attracted more by offering other business-related classes. In 1889 the school’s name was changed to Cleary Business College and the facility moved to its third location on the corner of Michigan and Adams. The school was incorporated in 1891. In 1933 the Cleary family turned the physical assets of the college over to a board of trustees, establishing Cleary College as an independent nonprofit institution. The college moved to its present site in 1960. A branch college was opened in Livingston County in 1979. By 1982 the combined campuses served over one thousand students. Patrick Roger Cleary served as president of Cleary College from its inception in 1883 to his retirement in 1940. A graduate of Valparaiso University, he taught penmanship for several years prior to founding the college. He authored several books on profit and bookkeeping and served as business consultant to local merchants including J. L. Hudson. Succeeding Cleary as president was his son, Owen J., an Ypsilanti attorney who was Michigan’s secretary of state from 1953 to 1954. During Patrick Cleary’s administration, the college became one of the first in Michigan to train teachers in commercial subjects. It began granting associate and bachelor degrees in 1935. By 1979 one thousand bachelor degrees had been conferred by the college.