Gerard J. Campbell

Gerard John Campbell (August 26, 1919 – August 9, 2012) was an American Catholic priest, Jesuit, and historian who became the president of Georgetown University. Born in Pennsylvania, he entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 20 and studied at West Baden College and Fordham University, before earning his doctorate at Princeton University. A promising historian, he then taught at Loyola University Maryland, before becoming the executive vice president of Georgetown University in 1963, where he effectively worked as acting president.

The following year, Campbell was appointed the president of Georgetown University. He continued the work of his predecessor to modernize the institution. Extensively reorganizing the university's governance, he amended its congressional charter, legally separated Georgetown from the Society of Jesus, and transformed the composition of its board of directors from senior Jesuit administrators to laypeople and Jesuits unaffiliated with the university. He also recruited prominent faculty in the humanities and social sciences, and gave faculty a direct role in administration by creating a faculty senate. At the end of his term, ground was broken on Lauinger Library, which greatly expanded the university's library capacity.

Campbell's tenure as president was brief, as he preferred scholarship over academic administration. Combined with a mounting budgetary deficit, he resigned the office in 1968. Campbell then worked for the Jesuits' Maryland Province before becoming rector of the Jesuit novitiate in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. He returned to Georgetown as the director of the Woodstock Theological Center in 1979, and then founded the Center for Jesuit Spirituality at Holy Trinity Church.

Early life

Gerard John Campbell was born on August 26, 1919, in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1939, and a Licentiate of Philosophy. and was ordained a priest in 1951. After receiving his doctorate, he became a professor of history at Loyola University Maryland. On January 31, 1965, Campbell served as the homilist for the Archdiocese of Washington's Red Mass, which was attended by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, presidential aid Jack J. Valenti, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan and Speaker of the House John W. McCormack.

Campbell undertook numerous reforms of the university's governance, Upon entering into office, he amended the university's antiquated congressional charter and created expansive bylaws to officially allow the university to govern itself as it unofficially already had been. This involved a separation of the board of directors, which controlled the university, from the corporation. The latter legally owned the university and the role of the five-member body was defined as being only to appoint its own successors and members of the board of directors.

Fundraising began in 1965 for Lauinger Library, which opened in 1971, after Campbell's presidency.

The result of this reform of the board was that Georgetown became legally independent of the Society of Jesus. Therefore, Campbell had to obtain the permission of the Maryland provincial superior as well as the Superior General in Rome. He also secured an act of Congress to amend the charter, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. The Jesuit community at Georgetown was separately incorporated, and retained ownership of several historic buildings on campus. The offices of president of the university and rector of the Jesuit community were made separate and held by different people.

While Campbell's predecessor focussed particularly on improving the quality and stature of the science faculty, Campbell recruited esteemed faculty in the humanities and social sciences. The appointment of faculty became a more formalized process, and the overall size of the faculty increased. Jesuits were no longer appointed to the faculty by the Jesuit superiors, and instead competed with all other applicants for positions. At the same time, the number of Jesuit faculty increased. The faculty was given a direct role in the administration of the university through the creation of a faculty senate. ground was broken on Lauinger Library in 1968, and the building was completed in October 1971. The new facility greatly relieved the inadequate library space on campus. Campbell began a fundraising drive to raise $26 million beginning in 1966, which would fund fellowships, scholarships, pay salaries, and build the new Georgetown University Law Center. However, the drive raised just $15 million by 1968.

In addition to governance reforms, Campbell encouraged new community service initiatives by Georgetown students throughout the District of Columbia. Facing deteriorating health and the increasing campus turmoil of the late 1960s, Campbell resigned the presidency in 1968. Those close to him observed that during his brief term, he never enjoyed being president, and preferred to return to a life of scholarship.

Later years After stepping down as president, Campbell spent the rest of his life in Jesuit academic administration. He worked for the Jesuit Maryland Province, In 1979, he returned to Georgetown University as the director of the Woodstock Theological Center. Four years later,