President: 1890-1901
Fr. John Whitney, S.J., served as Georgetown's 32nd president from 1890-1901. Fr. Whitney helped expand Georgetown's graduate academic offerings during his time as president.
Navy career and conversion
Fr. John Whitney was raised a Congregationalist, and began his career in the United States Navy in 1866. During his time aboard the USS Mercury, the Captain invited a young married couple aboard to sail up the Long Island Sound as part of their honeymoon. During the journey, the bride dropped a book overboard, causing a great stir as the first mate rushed to retrieve it. When the couple departed, then Lt. Whitney’s curiosity caused him to pick up the book and begin reading it. The book, Invitation Heeded: The Return to Catholic Unity by Fr. James Kent Stone, inspired Lt. Whitney’s conversion to Catholicism.1
Early academic career
He was baptized on November 2, 1870 and entered the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1872 in Montreal. In 1875, he traveled to London where he studied rhetoric at Manresa House before departing for Stonyhurst College where he studied philosophy for three years. In 1880, Fr. Whitney returned to New York to teach mathematics at St. Francis Xavier College. In 1884, he studied theology at Woodstock for a year before his ordination in 1885. Fr. Whitney spent the next fourteen years teaching mathematics at Spring Hill College, studying theology in Dublin, returning to teach mathematics first at Spring Hill College, then the College of the Immaculate Conception, and then St. John’s College. On July 3, 1898, Fr. Whitney succeeded Fr. Richards and became the University’s thirty-second president.2
Healy Hall
During his tenure, Fr. Whitney continued work on Healy Hall. Porticos at the main and middle entrances and walkways were paved. In 1899, Fr. Whitney received a donation from alumnus Anthony Hirst for the construction of the Hirst Reading Room on the first floor of Healy Hall. Murals were also added to Gaston Hall and the Healy foyer.3
University organization
The newly opened Georgetown Hospital received its first patient, and Fr. Whitney made daily visits to the sick in the infirmary and hospital. Fr. Whitney worked to unify the College, the Medical School, and the Law School. He encouraged the College Glee Club to entertain at the law school’s debates, and in 1889, he gave the law school permission to host these debates in Gaston Hall.4 At the University’s commencement in 1901, Fr. Whitney celebrated the first graduates of the law school’s new three year program and announced a curriculum expansion that included courses in civil law, admiralty law, international law, and the conflict of laws.5Fr. Whitney also arranged for the University to acquire and incorporate the Washington Dental College and Hospital of Oral Surgery. The Georgetown University Dental School opened to its first students in the fall of 1901.
Student engagement
Fr. Whitney took a “singularly intense interest” in the University's students, and he was known for being familiar with “the record and connections of every boy.”6 He implemented a tradition of a grand dinner at Cabin John for any student who received four testimonials at the monthly reading of marks. The class of 1901 gifted Fr. Whitney a hand carved cane inscribed with the names of every student.
On July 11, 1901, Fr. Whitney’s term ended, and he was succeeded by Fr. Jerome Daugherty.
- 1Philips Temple. “The Library and the Alumni.” Georgetown University Alumni Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3, Fall 1949 p.8.
- 2“Father John Dunning Whitney,” Woodstock Letters, Vol. XLVII, No.1 1918, pp.88-91.
- 3Edouard A. Stackpole, “The Rev. Fr. John D. Whitney, S.J. Priest and Educator.” p.13-19.
- 4“Law School.” Georgetown College Journal, Vol. 27, No. 7. April 1889.
- 5 “University Notes:Law School.” Georgetown College Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1. July. 1901, p.487.
- 6"Father John Dunning Whitney,” Woodstock Letters, p.90.
