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For immediate release
April 15, 2009 |
Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University today announced that Chester L. Gillis has been appointed dean of Georgetown College. Georgetown College is the oldest and largest school within the University, housing a range of arts and sciences departments and programs. Gillis has served as interim dean since July and his permanent appointment is effective immediately.
“Dean Gillis has a strong record of experience in undergraduate education and a deep commitment to supporting faculty scholarship and innovative classroom opportunities,” said University President John J.
DeGioia. “He has demonstrated an innovative vision for the future of the College that honors our foundation of intellectual rigor, global reach, and dedication to service.”
Gillis assumed the role of Interim Dean of the College upon the departure of Jane Dammen McAuliffe last summer. He is the founding director of the Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue within the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown and holds the Amaturo Chair in Catholic Studies in the department of theology.
"I am honored to be selected by President DiGioia after a national search,” said Dean Gillis. “I am committed to advancing the College while maintaining our Jesuit tradition and Georgetown's longstanding commitment to undergraduate education within the context of a research university."
Dean Gillis has been a member of the Georgetown faculty since 1988, and served as chair of the department of theology from 2001 to 2006 and director of the Doctor of Liberal Studies program from 2006 to 2008. As a professor, Dean Gillis has had the opportunity to come to know a broad cross-section of Georgetown’s undergraduate community teaching such courses as Problem of God and Catholicism and Society. Dean Gillis received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Liberal Studies Program in 2005, and this year he is the faculty mentor for the Berkley Center Undergraduate Fellows Program.
Dean Gillis’ research interests include comparative religion and contemporary Roman Catholicism. A member of the American Theological Society, he serves on the Academic Relations Task Force of the American Academy of Religion, and is a contributor to the Washington Post/Newsweek Web site On Faith. An expert on the U.S. Catholic Church, the history of Catholicism, and the papacy, Dean Gillis has a deep commitment to advancing interfaith dialogue.
About Georgetown University
Georgetown University is the oldest and largest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in Washington, DC, Doha, Qatar and around the world. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.
