Provost O’Donnell steps down

The 2011-2012 academic year will mark Provost James O’Donnell’s tenth and final year as a member of Georgetown’s senior administration, according to an announcement by University President John DeGioia.
“Jim has been instrumental in the development of numerous programs and initiatives as chief academic officer for the Main Campus, all while continuing to build upon his distinguished record of scholarship,” DeGioia wrote in an email to the student body.
During his ten years at Georgetown, O’Donnell has served as one of the most prominent faces of the University to the outside world. As Provost, O’Donnell served as the chief academic officer for Georgetown’s main campus, overseeing its various offices and faculty departments. O’Donnell has also been instrumental in the development of several of the University’s key academic expansion initiatives over the past ten years, including the establishment of Georgetown’s SFS-Qatar campus in 2005.
When asked about his proudest accomplishments, O’Donnell spoke of the Doha campus and the imminent completion of the new science building as projects he was proud to have worked on, also citing the growth of new faculty and students coming to the hilltop.
DeGioia’s announcement noted that although O’Donnell will relinquish his duties as Provost next year, he will ultimately return to the University as a full-time professor in the classics department.
O’Donnell indicated that after taking a year of leave, he will be quite ready to embrace his new duties as teacher.
“They will issue me a hard hat, a lunch bucket, and a Latin book, and I will be able to do something else I love.  I’m very lucky,” O’Donnell wrote in an email.