page_title: Timothy S. Healy
section_title: Georgetown University
hierarchical_section_title: Timothy S. Healy / Georgetown University
caption_attribution_description: Village A, Georgetown University, Georgetown, Washington, DC
context_page_description: Timothy Stafford Healy was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who straddled the religious and secular life in a career that included the vice chancellorship of the City University of New York, the presidency of Georgetown University, and the presidency of the New York Public Library. Born in New York City, Healy entered the Society of Jesus after graduating from Regis High School. He was educated at Woodstock College, the Catholic University of Louvain, and Fordham University, before beginning his teaching career at Fordham Preparatory School. In 1965, he received his doctorate in English literature from the University of Oxford. He would remain an avid Latinist through his life.
  After teaching at Fordham University, Healy became an administrator, rising to the rank of executive vice president. In 1969, he was named the vice chancellor for academic affairs of CUNY. It was highly unusual for a Catholic priest to hold a senior administrative role at an American public university, and Healy entered the job at a time of conflict. Black and Puerto Rican students demanded greater enrollment at CUNY.
context_section_description: On April 14, 1976, Healy was named the president of Georgetown University, succeeding Robert J. Henle. The other two candidates for the position considered by the search committee were the president of Fairfield University, Thomas R. Fitzgerald, and the former Jesuit provincial superior for New York, Robert A. Mitchell. The committee's ambitious desire for their new president was someone who would create a long-term vision for the university, dramatically expand its fundraising, and became a national spokesman for Georgetown and private higher education more generally.
  During his 13-year tenure, Georgetown emerged into the national spotlight as a top institution. Upon entering office, he determined that the two areas in which the university lagged behind peer institutions were the physical development of the main campus and the university's endowment. Therefore, an ambitious building campaign during his tenure resulted in 12 new buildings. Among these were Yates Field House, an athletic center for the general student body; the Bunn Intercultural Center, a new home for many academic departments, as well as the School of Foreign Service; three new students housing complexes, Villages A, B, and C; and the Leavey Center, a university center that included a hotel. Despite the rapid development of the physical campus, Georgetown's growth soon resulted in a campus without room for additional physical expansion.
  To support this era of expansion, Healy promoted aggressive growth of the university's endowment, which stood at $37 million when he took office. Within two years, the endowment had tripled, and Georgetown had outpaced every other university in the country in its financial growth. By the end of his term, the endowment had increased to $230 million. Healy became well-connected with The Washington Post and the The Washington Star, sat on numerous U.S. presidential commissions, and assumed prominent leadership roles in national collegiate organizations. In 1986, he was named one of the five most-effective university presidents in the United States.
caption: Healy oversaw construction of Village A and two other student housing complexes.
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 8", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Photos 4.0", "Image DateTime": "2018:12:24 12:14:31", "Image TileWidth": "512", "Image TileLength": "512", "Image ExifOffset": "198", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/838", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "20", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:12:24 12:14:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:12:24 12:14:31", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "130842/13475", "EXIF ApertureValue": "54823/32325", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "85601/9779", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "399/100", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2015, 1511, 2217, 1330]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "768", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "768", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[4183519/1048501, 4183519/1048501, 9/5, 9/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 8 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8"}