Background
Mahoney was born on November 4, 1913, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Junior Thomas Henry and Frances (Lucy) Mahoney.
educator government official historian writer
Mahoney was born on November 4, 1913, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Junior Thomas Henry and Frances (Lucy) Mahoney.
Mahoney graduated from Boston College with Bachelor of Arts degree in 1936, he earned his Master of Arts degree from it in 1937. He became Doctor of Philosophy at George Washington University in 1944.
Also, Thomas received Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University in 1967. Mahoney also got his doctorate in public affairs in 1989 from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He was seventy-five when he received the degree.
Mahoney's first career was in education with stints at schools such as Boston College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and College of the Holy Cross. His work at MIT spanned 1945 to 1984 and saw Mahoney teach history and serve as section head. His second career was in politics, he would ultimately be elected to offices eleven times. Among the positions he held were school committee person, state representative, and founding chairperson of the ethics committee. From 1971 to 1979, Mahoney served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 2nd Middlesex District. There he was the founding chairman of the ethics committee and was also chairman of the House Energy Committee.
In 1979, Thomas was appointed to the post of First Secretary of Elder Affairs for Massachusetts by Governor Edward King. In 1981, he led the Massachusetts delegation at the White House Conference on Aging. Mahoney’s work in bringing issues regarding aging into the public eye took him to various parts of the globe to lecture. He wrote and edited a number of books, including Edmund Burke and Ireland, The United States in World History, Edmund Burke: The Enlightenment and the Modern World, and Aging in Urbanization.
Thomas Mahoney was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Mahoney married Phyllis Norton on July 14, 1951. The couple had 5 children: Thomas Henry IV, Linda, David, Peter and Philip.