Robert Plunkett
Quick Facts
Biography
Rev. Robert Plunkett (died 1815) was the first President of Georgetown University.
An alumnus of English College, Douai, Plunkett was named to the position by John Carroll, the founder of Georgetown University. He sailed with Father Charles Neale, S.J. (whose two brothers, Father Francis Neale, S.J. and the Most Reverend Leonard Neale, S.J., would eventually become Presidents of Georgetown) in 1790 to the United States to become a missionary at White Marsh. 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 Father Robert Molyneux, S.J. in 1793.