President Emeritus of Mount St. Mary’s University Passes Away

Mount Mourns Loss of George R. Houston

George R. Houston, Jr., twenty-third president of Mount St. Mary’s University passed away peacefully January 19, 2008 from pancreatic cancer. He served as president of the university from 1994-2003.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to his family including his dear mother Lillian Houston, Tom Woodruff, surviving siblings and his many nieces and nephews,” says Mount President Thomas H. Powell. “President Emeritus Houston was an inspiration and an effective leader. He was recently honored with a Bicentennial Medal recognizing his generosity of spirit and his unyielding support to strengthen the Mount’s foundation.  His legacy will continue to benefit future generations of Mount students.”

A seventh-generation Washingtonian, Houston attended Georgetown University where he also spent over three decades as a faculty member and an administrator. The Mount recruited Houston in 1994 as its twenty-third president when he was the managing director of Georgetown’s endowment fund.

It was under Houston’s leadership that the Mount saw many facility changes; including construction of Knott Auditorium and the Keating wing at the seminary, beginning stages of the renovation of Borders Learning Center and Coad Science Building and the construction of the McGowan Center. He led the school’s fundraising campaigns with generous personal contributions and the university established in his honor the George R. Houston, Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund for aspiring business students.

At his retirement, Houston’s long time friend Cardinal William H. Keeler, former Mount Trustee said: "George Houston has brought great energy and extraordinary leadership qualities to his work as president …which helped the whole Mount family better appreciate and deepen the strong Catholic identity that is our heritage.”

A funeral mass was held Friday, January 25, 2008 at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Mount St. Mary’s University.  

Memorial contributions may be made to Mount St. Mary’s University or to Georgetown University.

Pictured above: Mount President Thomas H. Powell, George R. Houston, Jr. president emeritus and Bicentennial Commission Chair Dick Ridgway.