The President of Georgetown University is the chief executive officer of Georgetown University. He is ex officio one of the five members of the President and Directors of Georgetown College, the legal entity in which the university is incorporated. The president is also a member ex officio of the university's board of directors, which is responsible under the university's bylaws for managing the "property and business" and other functions of the university. The president is one of four officers of the university explicitly created by the school's charter, alongside the provost, secretary, and treasurer; the holder of the office is elected by the board of directors and may be removed by a majority vote of the whole board. The president is charged with control over the "business affairs and properties" of the university, which include presiding over meetings of the corporation and appointing the provost, secretary, and treasurer of the university with the concurrence of the board, as well as other officers, vice presidents, and administrators. The president may remove any officer, vice president, or administrator by his accord, except the provost, secretary, and treasurer, which require the concurrence of the board. A voting member of the board of directors, the president is also an ex officio member of all of its standing committees. In the event that the office is vacant, the powers of the presidency are exercised by the provost.
History
The founder of Georgetown University, John Carroll, never served as president. Having established the school in 1789, Carroll was unable to find someone willing to accept the job; he eventually persuadedRobert Plunkett to become the first president of Georgetown in 1791. There have been forty-eight presidencies, occupied by forty-one distinct officeholders, as seven served two terms. Forty-seven of those forty-eight occupants were Catholic priests, and the vast majority have been Jesuits. Until the 1960s, the president of the university was also the rector of the Jesuit community, meaning that the term of office was limited to six years. The first layman to hold the office is the current president, John J. DeGioia, who was also the first lay president of any Jesuit university. Having assumed the office on July 1, 2001, he is the longest holder of the presidency. The salary of the president is set by the board of directors. It has fluctuated over the years, and can vary considerably based on bonuses and benefits, which can include housing and retirement plans., the president's base salary was approximately $500,000. With extras, the effective salary can be twice this amount.
