Dean of Georgetown College
What was the position of John B. Creeden from 1909 to 1918?
John B . Creeden John B . Creeden ( September 12 , 1871 – February 26 , 1948 ) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit , who served in many senior positions at Jesuit universities in the United States . Born in Massachusetts , he attended Boston College , and studied for the priesthood in Maryland and Austria . He taught at Fordham University and then at Georgetown University , where he was made Dean of Georgetown College in 1909 , and simultaneously served as principal of Georgetown Preparatory School . Creeden became president of Georgetown University in 1918 . Largely shaped by the First World War , during his presidency , the School of Foreign Service was founded , for which he was awarded the Medal of Public Instruction from the President of Venezuela . In order to support the post-war enrollment boom , he also expanded the size of the campus , and established the universitys first endowment , to support major campus improvements . He proposed a transformation of the campus that would involve building a new quadrangle of neo-Gothic buildings , but this vision was thwarted by the Depression of 1921 . Creeden undertook a major reform of the universitys organization , which included relocating Georgetown Preparatory School to a new campus , installing Jesuit regents to oversee each of the professional schools , and placing the Law School under his direct control , where he initiated a drastic improvement in the schools curriculum and admissions standards . Following the end of his presidency in 1924 , he returned to Boston College , where he briefly became Dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences , before founding Boston College Law School in 1926 and serving as its first regent until 1939 . At the same time , he served as regent of Georgetown Law School from 1929 to 1939 . In his final years , he was a spiritual counselor at Jesuit schools in Western Massachusetts , and then became Dean of Boston Colleges Evening Division , which later became the Woods College of Advancing Studies . Early life . John B . Creeden was born on September 12 , 1871 , in Arlington , Massachusetts , to Irish immigrant parents . He attended Boston College , before entering the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Frederick , Maryland , on August 14 , 1890 . He taught at Georgetown from 1897 to 1902 , and then returned to Woodstock College to study philosophy and theology ; he also spent time studying in Linz , Austria . At Woodstock , he was ordained a priest by Cardinal James Gibbons in 1905 . He then spent two years teaching at Fordham University in New York City . In 1909 , he was made athletic director and prefect of studies at Georgetown , before being appointed as Dean of Georgetown College later that year . During part of his tenure as dean , he also served as principal of Georgetown Preparatory School . On February 2 , 1910 , he was conferred the rank of in the Society of Jesus . Upon being named president of the university , he was succeeded as dean by Edmund A . Walsh . President of Georgetown University . Creeden was named president of Georgetown University in May 1918 , succeeding Alphonsus J . Donlon . In 1918 , with the Spanish flu making its way toward Washington , Creeden resurrected the St . Josephs Lamp Association , which was responsible for keeping a lamp burning in front of a statue of St . Joseph in a garden between Gervase Hall , Mulledy Hall , and Old South . Creeden received Ferdinand Foch , the French marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies , on November 20 , 1921 , and presented him with an honorary Doctor of Civil and Canon Laws degree , as well as a golden sword on behalf of the American Jesuits . He voiced his opposition in 1921 to the Smith–Towner Bill , which was an unsuccessful attempt to create the U.S . Department of Education , because he believed it was both unconstitutional and unwise for the federal government to assert control over education . In the summer of 1923 , Creeden developed phlebitis , which severely impacted his ability to discharge the office . By early 1924 , he felt that he was no longer able to fulfill his duties , and Charles W . Lyons was named as his successor in late October 1924 . Campus improvements . Following the end of the First World War , enrollment in all of Georgetowns schools increased greatly , especially in the Medical , Dental , and Law Schools . This put the existing facilities under significant strain . Creeden responded by buying up property bounded by 35th , 37th , P , and N Streets , adjacent to the main campus . He also sought to enhance the national reputation of the university by creating a Georgetown Publicity Bureau . Together with these concrete improvements , he established an endowment association , whose goal was to raise $5 million in two years , equivalent to $ million in . This represented the first time in Georgetowns history that an endowment was sought . The most ambitious of Creedens visions was a vast expansion of the built campus known as the Greater Georgetown Plan . This would involve constructing a new neo-Gothic quadrangle composed of several buildings on the site of the existing athletic field next to Healy Hall . This quadrangle would be a new home for the Medical and Dental Schools , a dormitory , a classroom building , and a science building . Creeden also planned to build a stadium nearby that could hold twenty thousand spectators . This grand plan never came to fruition because the Depression in 1921 made funding unavailable . Separation of Georgetown Preparatory School . At the commencement ceremony of 1919 , Creeden announced that Georgetown Preparatory School would move to a separate campus at the start of the following academic year . Construction of the North Bethesda , Maryland campus was begun under his predecessor , Donlon . The purpose of this relocation was to remove the younger students from what the Jesuits viewed as the indecent temptations of the city . It was also part of the larger movement among Jesuit institutions in the United States , facing pressure from the Association of American Universities , to create separate four-year high school programs and four-year college programs , instead of combined seven-year programs . Despite the move away from Georgetowns collegiate campus , Creeden continued to take an active interest in the administration of the preparatory school , frequently visiting and meeting with the headmaster to set policies . School of Foreign Service established . Following the renaming of Georgetowns School of Foreign Service for Edmund A . Walsh in 1958 , Henri Wiesel , a Jesuit contemporary and acquaintance of both Creeden and Walsh , wrote to the archivist of Georgetown University that , though Walsh was instrumental in the creation of the school , the true founder of the School of Foreign Service was Creeden . He said that Creeden envisioned the establishment of such a school and frequently discussed the subject , at a time when Walsh was still studying theology as part of his Jesuit formation . His motivation for the creation of the school was to bring the Society of Jesus into contact with prominent men in government and finance . Creeden sought to establish the school at the start of his presidency , but this goal was delayed by the First World War . Another Jesuit contemporary verified that Creeden worked closely with Fr . Constantine McGuire to present the plan for the School of Foreign service to the board of regents in June 1918 . Opening in 1919 , the school quickly became well received in government circles in Washington , and Creeden sought to establish an endowment for it . He recruited Walsh , whose personality was more suited to public life , to recruit faculty and students and to be the face of the school , and appointed him as the first regent of the school . In recognition of Creedens role in the founding of the School of Foreign Service , the President of Venezuela , Victorino Márquez Bustillos , awarded him the Medal of Public Instruction in 1920 , the highest educational honor bestowed by Venezuela on a foreign citizen . He was presented with the award during the Venezuelan Minister of Public Educations visit to Washington . Law School reform . The Association of American Law Schools ( AALS ) gave Georgetown Law School a quality rating of B , prompting Creeden to undertake a major reorganization of the governance of the school . In the spring of 1920 , he obtained the consent of the board of regents to effectively terminate the semi-autonomous status of the law school , bringing it under closer control of the university leadership . This involved appointing a Jesuit regent to ensure the school was conforming to the tradition and mission of the university ( a reform Creeden and a later president , Coleman Nevils , implemented at all of the universitys professional schools ) , and creating an executive faculty that consisted of the president , the dean of the law school , and six professors chosen by the president . In order to improve the quality of the school , he also had new bylaws adopted , which significantly raised the standards for admission to the law school . Applicants were required to have at least completed four years of high school . By 1925 , this standard was raised to require at least two years of college , with courses in history , economics , political science , ethics , logic , and rhetoric . With the support of Dean George E . Hamilton , in October 1921 , day classes were offered for the first time ( while until then , there were evening classes designed for part-time students ) , and several full-time professors were hired to supplement the part-time faculty that maintained active law practices . Evening students were required to study for four years , instead of the previous three . These reforms resulted in the AALS upgrading Georgetowns rating to an A in 1925 . Creeden and other administrators anticipated a decrease in enrollment due to these heightened standards , but this decrease was smaller than expected , and returned to previous levels within several years . Later years . Creeden then went to Boston College , where he taught philosophy from 1924 to 1926 . In 1926 , he was appointed Dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences . He then founded the Boston College Law School , and served as its first regent from 1926 to 1939 . At the same time , he became the regent of Georgetown Law School in 1929 , and held this position for ten years . Following his law school deanships , he served as spiritual counselor from 1939 to 1942 at Cranwell Preparatory School in Lenox , Massachusetts , and from 1942 to 1947 at Shadowbrook , the Jesuit novitiate in Stockbridge , Massachusetts . He also became the first Dean of the Boston College Evening Division , which later became the Woods College of Advancing Studies . On February 26 , 1948 , Creeden died in Boston .