Fordham Preparatory School Woodstock College
Where was J. Hunter Guthrie educated in Aug 1914?
J . Hunter Guthrie Joseph Hunter Guthrie ( January 8 , 1901 – November 11 , 1974 ) was an American academic philosopher , writer , Jesuit , and Catholic priest . Born in New York City , he entered the Society of Jesus in 1917 , and began his studies at Woodstock College . Following his undergraduate and graduate work there , he taught at Jesuit institutions in the Philippines until 1927 . Following his ordination in 1930 , he received doctorates in theology and philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Paris , respectively . He then returned to the United States , where he became a professor of philosophy at Woodstock College and Fordham University . In 1943 , Guthrie became the chairman of graduate philosophy at Georgetown University and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences . In this role , he admitted the first women to the school on equal terms as men . For twenty years , he promoted the belief that intellectuals must play a central role in combatting the ideologies that led to World War II . To that end , he was a member of the drafting committee of the UNESCO charter , was a co-founder of an American academy of Catholic intellectuals , and travelled the world with the U.S . State Department , for which he received honors from several countries and organizations . Guthrie became the president of Georgetown University in 1949 , and a major decision he made was to abolish the universitys football program , believing it to be inconsistent with the educational purpose of a Catholic university . He also oversaw construction of McDonough Gymnasium . His tenure ended abruptly in 1952 , when he did not return at the start of the academic year . His resignation resulted from illness , as well as frustration with senior administrators who resisted his attempts to centralize governance of the university . In his later years , he taught at Saint Josephs College in Philadelphia , and died in Wernersville , Pennsylvania , in 1974 . Early life . Joseph Hunter Guthrie was born on January 8 , 1901 in New York City , to parents Jacob Francis Guthrie and Mary Guthrie ( née Ross ) . He enrolled at Fordham Preparatory School in 1913 , and graduated in 1917 . On July 30 of that year , he entered the Society of Jesus at the novitiate of St . Andrew-on-Hudson . Guthrie began studying science and philosophy at Weston College in Massachusetts , and completed his undergraduate education at Woodstock College in Maryland , where he graduated in 1923 with a Bachelor of Arts and in 1924 with a Master of Arts . Guthrie then taught English , Latin , and rhetoric at the seminary in Vigan , in the Philippines , from 1924 to 1925 , and English , Latin , and economics at the Ateneo de Manila University from 1925 to 1927 . He also coached drama at both the Vigan Seminary and Ateneo , which resulted in his Ateneo Passion Play being performed in 1927 at the Manila Grand Opera House . European studies . Guthrie returned to Woodstock College that year , traveling through China , Japan , North Africa , and India on his return voyage . On June 23 , 1930 , he was ordained a Catholic priest at Woodstock . He was then sent to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome , where he earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in 1931 . He spent the following year studying ascetical theology at the Drongen Abbey and at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium . On August 15 , 1934 , he professed his final vows in the Chapel of Saint Denis on Montmartre in Paris , which were received by Anthony Joseph Schuler , the Bishop of El Paso , Texas . Guthrie began work on his doctorate in philosophy , studying at the University of Berlin , the University of Munich , the University of Frieburg , and the University of Paris . During this time , he became ill with tuberculosis , which required that he be treated in Asheville , North Carolina . He then returned to the University of Paris to defend his dissertation on phenomenology , for which he was awarded a with highest honors in 1937 . During his time in Europe , Guthrie studied under Martin Heidegger , Werner Jaeger , and Emile Brédier , and was closely acquainted with Edith Stein , Simone Weil , Jacques Maritain , and Étienne Gilson . He was also in contact with the Vienna Circle . As a result , his philosophical interests were German existentialism , logical positivism , and analytic philosophy , the latter of which he studied a decade before it become prominent in American universities . Following his education , Guthrie taught philosophy at Woodstock College from 1937 to 1940 . He became a professor and chairman of the department of graduate philosophy at Fordham University in 1940 , remaining in the position for three years . He was also an assistant editor of The Journal of Philosophy , , and Philosophy Abstracts , and was a prolific author . Georgetown University . Deanship . In 1943 , Guthrie was appointed chairman of the graduate department of philosophy at Georgetown University , which made him ex officio the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences . Later , he also was named the chairman of deans of the university . During his term , the first eleven women were admitted to the graduate school on equal status as men . The president of the university , Lawrence C . Gorman , described this action as initially experimental and as a wartime concession that proved successful . Guthrie sought to revitalize the graduate school , and recruited prominent faculty who fled Europe during World War II , especially those in the fields of philosophy and political science . The reputation and quality of academics in the graduate department of philosophy , which had a separate location and faculty from its undergraduate counterpart , was greatly improved during his term , and it was said that the graduate school firmly established itself for the first time . Having succeeded Edward C . Phillips as dean , Guthrie was replaced by Gerard Yates . Worldwide academic advocacy . Following the end of World War II , Guthrie became a proponent of making academia a key instrument in securing future world peace by combating ideologies of nationalism , totalitarianism , and scientific racism . To that end , he became a member of the U.S . Commission on Restructuring Education , which met at Princeton University in 1940 , alongside British academics , to implement democratic principles in education . He was also a member of the chartering committee of UNESCO , which met in Nice in 1945 . Guthrie supported a proposal by several Catholic intellectuals to create an American academy for Catholic thought . This occurred in the context of many American think tanks and intellectual organizations , such as the Council on Foreign Relations , reevaluating their purposes and missions , so as to ensure that another world war would never happen again . The bodys twofold mission would be reconstructing Catholic intellectual life in the aftermath of the war , and maintaining a presence in the total work of the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization . Guthrie envisioned the organization as being composed primarily of academic laymen , rather than clergy . Eventually , the academy came to fruition , and he became a co-founder of the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs ( CCICA ) in 1946 . He was also a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and the Medieval Academy of America . Guthrie was a prolific traveller , visiting every continent except Australia . He traveled as an exchange specialist with the U.S . Department of State and the United States Information Agency to the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America from 1947 to 1950 . He was a polyglot , being fluent in four languages and able to read in four more . Guthrie received the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit of Spain in 1948 for his writings on the Spanish philosopher Francisco Suárez , and lectures at the University of Barcelona , University of Madrid , and University of Salamanca . He received the Freedoms Foundation Award in 1950 , the National Order of Honour and Merit of Haiti in 1954 , and the Air University Award in 1958 for casting a tie-breaking vote to create the Air University . Film director Samuel Bronston consulted with Guthrie in the 1950s on films set in Ancient Greece and Rome . Presidency . On February 18 , 1949 , Guthrie was appointed to succeed Gorman as the president of Georgetown University . Under his leadership , McDonough Gymnasium was built , with construction starting in 1950 , and the building opening in December 1951 . One of Guthries first actions was the revival of the board of regents in April 1949 , whose purpose was to advise the president and participate in fundraising and promotion of the university . Another of his primary goals was to centralize the university administration under the office of the president . At the time he took office , the schools of medicine , law , and foreign service operated close to autonomously in their governance , finances , and academics . Much of Guthries philosophy of education was motivated by his support for scholasticism . He wrote against the modern conception of academic freedom as a false liberty to license that deprived students of the divine dimension of reality . In this view , university-level education should teach students of the divine revelation . At the same time , he advocated for the sort of classical education that existed in antiquity , although supplemented by modern science . In sum , he believed that modern thought had little to offer . Guthries presidency came to an end abruptly in 1952 . In the summer of that year , he left for the American West for a retreat and to fundraise . He did not return at the start of the academic year , prompting many rumors on campus . He submitted his resignation to the university board of directors the following October , and it was announced that the Jesuit authorities in Rome had selected Edward B . Bunn as his successor . One historian later determined that Guthries ousting was not entirely voluntary , but rather was due to a combination of factors . In July 1952 , his health had begun to deteriorate ; he moved in with his mother in Annapolis , Maryland , and soon thereafter was treated at hospitals in Baltimore , Maryland and Charlotte , North Carolina . Additionally , he had become frustrated with the fact that each of the university professional schools was headed by a Jesuit regent . They vigorously opposed his attempts to centralize the administration of the university , and when Guthrie tried to invoke the authorities in Rome to support his effort , he felt that he did not have their backing . Abolition of football . One major decision of Guthries presidency was to discontinue Georgetowns football program in 1951 . He offered multiple reasons for his decision , the first of which was that the sport contributed little to the educational purpose of the university and was unbecoming of a Catholic educational institution . Financial considerations also motivated Guthrie . He disapproved that collegiate football had become big business . The sport consumed the vast majority of the universitys entire sports budget , and , combined with ancillary costs of running the program , resulted in a substantial , annual net deficit . Moreover , the team had been performing poorly for many seasons . As a result , Georgetown became the most prominent of 38 schools—many of them Catholic—to drop their football programs by 1951 , and the university saw a gradual de-emphasis of sports in general . Guthries decision prompted a strong backlash from alumni , and the football program was restored 12 years later . Later years . Guthrie continued to suffer from the damage tuberculosis had done to his lungs . After spending time recuperating , he became a professor at Saint Josephs College in Philadelphia in 1953 , and for a time , served as chair of the department of philosophy . He was interested in people who learn differently and worked intensively with one student , who he identified has having a learning disability that science later would identify as dyslexia . He also advocated for the creation of a Latin American studies program at Saint Josephs , which was created in 1960 . Guthrie assumed professor emeritus status at Saint Josephs in 1969 . He died on November 11 , 1974 , at the Jesuit novitiate of St . Isaac Jogues in Wernersville , Pennsylvania . His body was returned to Georgetown University and was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery . External links . Audio recordings . - J . Hunter Guthries inauguration as president of Georgetown University : - 1952 commencement at Georgetown University , with remarks by Guthrie :