James Donald Freeze, S.J. (September 15, 1932 – December 10, 2006) was the Academic Vice President (or Provost) for the main campus of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

from 1979 to 1991. In this role, he supervised all academic programs of Georgetown's College of Arts and Sciences, School of Foreign Service, School of Language and Linguistics, School of Business Administration, Graduate School, and School for Summer and Continuing Education.History of the Office of Provost
Georgetown University Website Born in

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he became a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

novice in 1950. After junior college at the Jesuit seminary in

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, he received a master's degree in philosophy from Weston College (now the

Weston Jesuit School of Theology The Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM) is a Jesuit school of graduate theology at Boston College. It is an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for scholarship ...

) in Massachusetts in 1957. He taught Latin and French at Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in

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for three years, then studied theology at the

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from 1960 to 1964. He spent another year in

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and took his final vows as a Jesuit and was ordained a priest at Wheeling Jesuit College in

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in 1968. Father Freeze taught metaphysics and psychology at Wheeling College until 1969, then became chairman of its philosophy department while doing graduate work in philosophy at

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. He lived at Georgetown University from 1970 until 1991. Starting in 1971, he served as assistant dean for Georgetown College. He was named Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1974, and appointed ProvostGeorgetown Website
''In Memoriam: J. Donald Freeze, S.J.'' in 1979 by President Timothy S. Healy, S.J. As Provost, he led creation of Georgetown's study abroad program near

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, situated in ''Villa La Balze'', a gift of Margaret Rockefeller Strong de Larraín, Marquesa de Cuevas. After Father Freeze's resignation as Provost in 1991, he served as the academic director of Georgetown's Florence programs for the 1991-1992 academic year. After his retirement from academic posts, he held a number of positions within the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

including service as the director of the Loyola Retreat House, Faulkner, Maryland, Treasurer of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, and superior of the Colombiere Jesuit Community in

. He died at age 74 of

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, 10 December 2006, Manresa Hall Infirmary in

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.''Washington Post'' Obituary
Wednesday, December 13, 2006; Page B06 In June 2021, Freeze was accused of nonconsensual contact with a student of Georgetown University during his time as provost. Georgetown President John DeGioia announced that Freeze would be stripped of all honorary degrees and special recognition, and apologized to the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeze, James Donald 1932 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits American expatriates in Austria American expatriates in France Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Pennsylvania Boston College School of Theology and Ministry alumni University of Innsbruck alumni Wheeling University faculty Georgetown University faculty Duquesne University alumni People stripped of honorary degrees Sexual abuse scandal in the Society of Jesus