Aloysius Masnata, (S.J.) (May 2, 1823 – November 18, 1886) was the 5th president of Santa Clara University, California, United States. He was a Genoese priest. At the age of seventeen he was admitted into the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. After studying philosophy and rhetoric and teaching for a year, he was sent to Vals, France, for the study of theology. After his study in France, he immigrated to the United States with other Jesuits after ordination and completed his fourth year of theology at Georgetown College along with Rev. Salvator Canio and Rev. Joseph Bixio. After his study he spent four years teaching rhetoric at Frederick, Maryland, where he was minister and socius to the master of novices. In 1854 Masnata S.J. sailed to California through Panama and arrived in San Francis