Georgetown Preparatory School is an American Jesuit college preparatory school for boys grades 9 through 12. It is among the most selective prep schools. The only Jesuit boarding school in the country, it is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on 90 acres (360,000 m2) in the suburban community of North Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland, outside of the District of Columbia.
Founded in 1789, Georgetown Preparatory School is an independent, boarding and day school for young men in grades 9–12. Located in North Bethesda, Maryland, the school enjoys the cultural and historic resources of the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.
Both Georgetown Preparatory School and Georgetown University sprang from the vision of John Carroll, the first bishop of Baltimore. Carroll regarded the school as critical to the future of the Catholic Church in the United States. He viewed it as a potential source of priestly vocations and of well-educated Catholic citizens able to play a significant role in the affairs of the new republic.
The highly structured curriculum emphasized study of the classics as a means of disciplining the mind, imbibing the wisdom of the ancients, and developing eloquentia or facility in speaking and writing. Students received a considerable amount of individual attention from their teachers and prefects, whose lives revolved around them. During the post-Civil War era especially, when enrollment dropped sharply from pre-war levels, the college exuded a “homey” atmosphere.
Religious and ethnic pluralism also characterized the preparatory school. From its inception, Georgetown Prep accepted students from foreign countries and from religious traditions other than Roman Catholic. Over the years, it prospered because of dedicated administrators, teachers, and prefects, talented students, and great good fortune. Even in the face of adversity or changing currents within American society, it displayed remarkable resilience and adaptability, all the while remaining true to its essential principles, principles grounded in the spiritual insights of St. Ignatius Loyola and given concrete form on the banks of the “Patowmack” by John Carroll.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Georgetown College Preparatory School made plans to move away from the University’s campus in the District of Columbia. In 1919, it moved to its current location on 90 acres in North Bethesda, Maryland.
Today, the Prep curriculum helps each boy develop to his potential in an environment that fosters the growth of the whole person. The curriculum is designed to challenge the abilities of students while engaging their interest. The aim of the Prep community is to provide young men not only with knowledge but also with the spiritual, moral, and aesthetic values which will prepare them for a life of high achievement, community service, and personal fulfillment.
In 2010, the school completed a significant reconstruction program to modernize its 90-acre (360,000 m2) campus. In January 2007, Georgetown Prep opened the Hanley Center for Athletic Excellence, a state-of-the-art athletic center that features a 200-meter indoor track, 11-lane swimming pool with diving area, competition basketball arena, wrestling room, 6000 s.f. weight training/cardiovascular room, and a team film room. Joe Hills, son of golf course architect Arthur Hills, redesigned and severely shrank the school's golf course, which reopened in 2008. The next phase of construction converted the existing field house into a learning center featuring expanded and modern library facilities, classrooms, meeting rooms, and a recording studio. This learning center, named after the immediate past president Fr. William L. George, S.J., opened for students on Tuesday, January 26, 2010.
Entertainment and art
Dylan Baker, ’76 – actor, best known for his role as Dr. Curt Connor in "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3"; also appeared in 2008's "Revolutionary Road"
John Barrymore* (d.) – Shakespearean actor and grandfather of Drew Barrymore
Ian Harding '05 – Actor, best known for his role as Ezra Fitz in "Pretty Little Liars"
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa – Playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Also, Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics
Mo Rocca, '87 – comedian, writer, political satirist, and a contributor for CBS's "Sunday Morning," the host of "The Tomorrow Show" on CBSNews.com, and a panelist on NPR's "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!"
James Whitaker '86 – Hollywood movie producer (The Finest Hours, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Robin Hood, Friday Night Lights, American Gangster, 8 Mile).
Markel Starks, ’10 – NBL guard, Cairns Taipans
Bill Bidwill, ’49 – owner, NFL’s Arizona Cardinals
Michael Bidwill, '83 – President, NFL's Arizona Cardinals
Brian Cashman, ’85 – General Manager, New York Yankees
Joseph A. DeFrancis, '72 – former owner of Pimlico Race Course, host of the Preakness Stakes
F. Lal Heneghan, ’81 – Executive vice president of football administration, San Francisco 49ers
Roy Hibbert, ’04 – NBA center, Charlotte Hornets
Chip Jenkins, '82 – Olympic Gold Medalist, 4 x 400 relay, Barcelona, Spain (1992)
Marcus Mason, '03 – running back, Washington Redskins
Thomas McHale* (d.) – former NFL player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Miami Dolphins
Willie Oshodin, '87 – defensive end, Denver Broncos (1992–1995)
AJ Wood, '91 – former NCAA Soccer All-American and Soccer America Player of the Year; 1996 Olympian and player for MLS D.C. United and the New York/New Jersey Metrostars
Government and military
Luis Burdiel Agudo '85- President and CEO, Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico
Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa, '62 – Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States and Canada; Nicaraguan Foreign Minister and Congressman; served as President of the Economic and Foreign Affairs Committees of Nicaraguan Congress
Jaime E. Aleman, ’71 – Ambassador to United States, Republic of Panama
Michael J. Daly, ’41 (d.) – recipient of Congressional Medal of Honor for his military valor during World War II
Carl DeMaio, '93 – former member of the San Diego city council and candidate for the House of Representatives
John Dingell, Jr., ’44 – U.S. Congressman, Democrat – Michigan; dean of the U.S. House of Representatives
Christopher Dodd, ’62 – U.S. Senator, Democrat – Connecticut
Neil Gorsuch, ’85 – Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Nominee, Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Thomas F. Hogan, ’56 – Chief Judge, U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Gilmary M. Hostage, III, '73 – general, United States Air Force, Commanding Officer of the Air Combat Command (September 2011 – Present)
Brett Kavanaugh, ’83 – Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit
Douglas Kennedy, ’86 – Fox News Channel correspondent and son of Robert F. Kennedy
Frank LoBiondo, ’64 – U.S. Congressman, Republican – New Jersey
Jerome H. Powell, '71 – Governor, Federal Reserve Board (May 2012 – Present)
Grover Rees, III, '68 – U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of East Timor (2002–2009)
Francis Rooney, ’71 – former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See (Vatican); former member of the Advisory Board of the Panama Canal Authority
Joseph E. Schmitz, ’74 – former Inspector General of the Department of Defense under President George W. Bush
Mark Shriver, ’82 – former representative to the Maryland House of Delegates; vice president and managing director of U.S. programs, Save the Children
Harry D. Train II, ’45 – retired Admiral in the United States Navy who served as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (now the Allied Command Transformation), as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command (now the Joint Forces Command), and as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet
Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr., ’58 (d.) – founder and partner, Patton Boggs LLP
David Chang, ’95 – chef/owner, Momofuku restaurants in New York City
Paul Colonna, '86 – President and Chief Investment Officer of GE Asset Management
Edmund B. Cronin, Jr., '55 – Chairman of the board of trustees and past chief executive officer of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust
Paul G. Haaga, Jr., ’66 – financier, philanthropist and CEO of NPR
Christopher Kennedy, ’82 – President, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. and son of Robert F. Kennedy
Chris Rogers, ’76 – founder and senior vice president, Nextel Communications
B. F. Saul, ’50 – founder, Chevy Chase Bank
J. Dennis Scarff, ’56 – owner, Bray & Scarff
Chet Thompson, '86 – President of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers
Harry L. You, ’75 – former CFO of Oracle Corporation and Former CEO of BearingPoint
Activism and community service
John Dear, S.J., ’77 – peace activist, author
Michael Keegan, ’69 – medical director and one of the founders of Somos Amigos Medical Missions, a nonprofit providing medical healthcare to underserved communities in the Dominican Republic
Anthony Shriver, ’84 – founder and Chairman, Best Buddies International; his mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics
Paul Tipton, S.J., ’57 (d.) – former president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities; former president of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala.
Literature and journalism
William S. Abell, ’32 (d.) – author and great-grandson of Arunah S. Abell, founder of the Baltimore Sun
Dennis Murphy, ’65 – Dateline NBC correspondent; winner of four Emmy Awards for excellence in news reporting
Christopher Rose, ’78 – noted columnist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and Pulitzer Prize winner for his post-Katrina columns, later compiled into the national bestseller, "1 Dead in Attic"; frequent commentator for NPR's Morning Edition
Allen Tate, 1918 (d.) – poet and essayist; U. S. Poet Laureate and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1943–44
Science and medicine
Michael Corbley, ’76 – senior scientist at Biogen Idec, a global pharmaceutical biotechnology company. He was a Fulbright and Henry Luce scholar
John Nicolaides, ’41 (d.) – aeronautics professor at the University of Notre Dame and former NASA official; on team that made a breakthrough in aerodynamic design after discovering the airfoil plane in the early 1970s
Charles Zubrod, ’32 (d.) – oncologist, widely regarded as the father of modern chemotherapy
*attended but did not complete graduation requirements
