Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Plunkett (1752–1815) was the first President of Georgetown University.
An alumnus of English College, Douai, Plunkett became a Jesuit four years before the congregation's suppression. He was later ordained to the priesthood and sailed to the United States in 1790 as a missionary, alongside the priest Charles Neale (whose two brothers, Francis Neale and the Leonard Neale, would eventually become Presidents of Georgetown). He was posted at a plantation in White Marsh, Maryland, before being named to the presidency of Georgetown University by John Carroll, the university's founder. In 1791, Carroll persuaded the reluctant Plunkett to accept the position.
Plunkett oversaw the division of the university into three parts: "college", "preparatory", and "elementary". After eighteen months in office, Plunkett stepped down as the President of Georgetown University and was succeeded by Robert Molyneux in 1793.
