Former University President Dies

Former University President Rev. Gerard Campbell, S.J., died Aug. 9 at age 92.

Campbell, who served as president from 1964 to 1968, enacted several changes during his short tenure in the office: He reorganized the university’s board of directors to allow it to include lay members, helped create Georgetown’s faculty senate and pledged to expand Georgetown’s role in the District.

In an email sent to the Georgetown community a week after Campbell’s death, University President John J. DeGioia lauded Campbell’s efforts to increase the university’s engagement with the city around it.

“Throughout an era of extraordinary change across our nation, Fr. Campbell helped to sustain and strengthen Georgetown’s Jesuit identity while also considering the future character and goals of our university,” he wrote.

After leaving the university, Campbell became rector of the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa. He later returned to D.C. to found the Center of Jesuit Spirituality based at Holy Trinity Catholic Church on N Street, where he served as director until 2004.

According to the email, a funeral and wake will be held for Campbell Friday at Holy Trinity; the Georgetown community will also hold a wake Thursday in Wolfington Hall.