President: 1989-2001

Fr. Leo O'Donovan, S.J., served as Georgetown's 47th president from 1989 to 2001. Fr. O'Donovan led Georgetown through a period of significant academic and financial growth, and his tenure also included controversies over short-lived university funding for the pro-choice club GU Choice.

President: 1853-58 & 1866-70

Fr. Bernard Maguire, S.J., served as Georgetown's 25th and 27th president from 1853 to 1858 and 1866 to 1870. Georgetown adopted its blue and gray colors during Fr. Maguire's second presidency to mark unity between the students from the North and South in the aftermath of the Civil War.

President: 1928-1935

Fr. W. Coleman Nevils, S.J., served as Georgetown's 39th president from 1928-1935. Fr. Nevils's presidency featured substantial on-campus construction, though the Great Depression hurt student enrollment and hindered Nevils's vision for campus construction.

President: 1942-1949

Fr. Lawrence Gorman, S.J., served as Georgetown's 41st president from 1942 to 1949. Fr. Gorman's tenure as president featured substantial enrollment growth in the aftermath of World War II and some of the university's first steps toward desegregation and integration.

President: 1952-1964

Fr. Edward Bunn, S.J., served as Georgetown's 43rd president from 1952-1964. At the time of his retirement, Fr. Bunn's 12-year tenure leading the university was the longest of any Georgetown president. Georgetown experienced significant changes under his leadership, including the creation of the University's business school and substantial construction.

President: 1969-1976

Fr. Robert Henle, S.J., served as Georgetown's 45th president from 1969-1976. Fr. Henle's tenure leading the University was marked by substantial growth, spearheaded by increased admission of women and Black students, as well as tensions over the antiwar movement and on-campus protests.

John Thompson, Jr. coached the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team from 1972 to 1999. Hired off of a brutal 3-23 season, Thompson promptly turned the Hoyas around and built Georgetown into an elite program. Thompson reached three Final Fours at Georgetown and coached four NBA Hall of Famers. He remains the only Georgetown basketball coach to win a national title. 

Fr. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., was the founder and longtime regent of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service. Walsh spent 40 years at Georgetown and played a role in several significant international events, including relief for the Russian famine of the early 1920s and the Nuremberg trials.

Marcus J. Bles (1905/1906 (?) - January 9, 1986) moved to Northern Virginia in 1941 from Missouri, where he had been a farmer, and established a business in earth-moving equipment where he was involved in the construction of the Pentagon. By the 1950s, his construction firm, M.J. Bles Construction Co., was one of the largest construction companies in Northern Virginia. 

William Gaston (1778 - 1844)  was Georgetown College's first student. He went on to be come a lawyer, politician, and judge. He entered Georgetown on November 10, 1791 but left in the spring of 1793 due to poor health. After recovering at home he eventually graduated from Princeton University in 1796.