John J. DeGioia

Infobox University President


width = 150px
name =John J. DeGioia
caption =
order =48th
university =President of Georgetown University
term_start = July 1, 2001
term_end =present
birth_date =1957
birth_place =Connecticut
death_date =
death_place =
predecessor =Rev. Leo O'Donovan, S.J.
successor =
alumna =Georgetown University
residence = Washington, D.C.
profession =
religion =Roman Catholic
salary =
spouse = Theresa Miller
children = John Thomas
website =
footnotes =|

John J. "Jack" DeGioia (born 1957) became the 48th and current President of Georgetown University on July 1, 2001. For nearly a quarter century, Dr. DeGioia has helped to define and strengthen Georgetown University as a premier institution for education and research.Fact|date=August 2007 Since graduating from the University in 1979, he has served both as a senior administrator and as a faculty member.

University Leadership

Under Dr. DeGioia's leadership, the University completed in December 2003 the largest fund-raising effort in University history, the Third Century Campaign. The $1 billion capital campaign benefited Georgetown's Main, Medical, and Law Center campuses to secure endowment funds for curriculum and faculty support, increase student financial aid, and build and renovate facilities. In 2002-2003, Dr. DeGioia oversaw the largest expansion of campus facilities, with the Southwest Quadrangle - a one million square-foot complex of student housing; study, seminar and music rooms; and a new Jesuit Community - at the forefront.

Dr. DeGioia addresses broader issues in higher education as a board member of the American Council on Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Campus Compact, and as an executive committee member of the Council on Competitiveness. He is on the Consortium on Financing Higher Education and serves on the Business-Higher Education Forum.

Institutional Priorities

To prepare young people for leadership roles in the global communityFact|date=August 2007, Dr. DeGioia has expanded opportunities for intercultural and interreligious dialogue, welcomed world leaders to campus, and convened international conferences to address challenging issues. He is a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and Chair of its Education Committee and he represents Georgetown at the World Economic Forum and on the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. DeGioia has enhanced Georgetown's relationship with the many political, cultural, corporate, and economic resources of Washington, D.C.Fact|date=August 2007 He serves on the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Federal City Council. Dr. DeGioia is also a strong supporter of Georgetown's social justice initiatives that seek to improve opportunities for Washington's underserved neighborhoods.Fact|date=August 2007

As the first lay president of a Jesuit university, Dr. DeGioia places special emphasis on sustaining and strengthening Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit identity and its responsibility to serve as a voice and an instrument for justice. He has also been a strong advocate for inter-religious dialogue. He is a member of the Order of Malta, a lay religious order of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to serving the sick and the poor.

Academic, Professional, and Personal

Dr. DeGioia is a Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Georgetown University in 1979 and his PhD in Philosophy from the University in 1995. He has most recently taught "Ethics and Global Development" and a seminar on "Ways of Knowing."

Prior to his appointment as president, Dr. DeGioia held a variety of senior administrative positions at Georgetown, including senior vice president, responsible for university-wide operations, and dean of student affairs. In 2004, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Academia from the Sons of Italy.

Dr. DeGioia was raised in Orange, Connecticut, and Hanford, California. He and his wife, Theresa Miller DeGioia, a Georgetown alumna, and their son, John Thomas, live in Washington, D.C.

External links

* Biography of Georgetown University President John J. Degioia [http://president.georgetown.edu/biography.html]