The 1952 Awardees
Austin F. Canfield
(1895-1953)
LLB 1923Washington DC
Austin Canfield, a Washington attorney and alumni volunteer, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A native of Shenandoah, PA, Canfield received his law degree in 1923, beginning a distinguished career as a Washington attorney. He served as President of the Washington D.C. Bar Association and as a national representative to the American Bar Association. In 1952, he was asked to lead the ABA's "Special Committee on Communist Tactics, Strategies and Objectives", for which he was recognized at the award ceremony.
An active member of the Washington D.C. alumni community, Canfield served as vice-president of the Alumni Association from 1948 through 1950.
One of the original recipients of the John Carroll Award, Canfield was its first decedent. The 58 year old attorney died of a heart attack on Jan. 16, 1953, less than a year after the first award ceremony.
Thomas A. Dean
(1899-1995)
AB 1920LLD, Honorary, 1947
Chicago, IL
Thomas Dean, a past president of the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 1944 to 1948, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A proud son of Chicago, Dean arrived at the Hilltop in 1912, with four years in the preparatory division and four years in the College. A popular and engaging campus leader, Dean returned to Chicago to work in the lumber business founded by his father in 1905. In 1940, Dean succeeded his father as president of the Dean Corporation, a wholesale lumber company, and served as president from 1940 through his retirement in 1966.
Mr. Dean was a prominent member of many Chicago area professional and charitable boards. A member of the Board of Governors and the Board of Regents, Dean served as president of the Alumni Association from 1944 through 1948, and received an honorary degree from the University in 1947.
Thomas Dean died in 1995 at the age of 96.
Hon. Michael V. DiSalle
(1908-1981)
LLB 1931 Toledo, OH
Michael DiSalle, the 60th governor of the state of Ohio, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born in New York and raised in Toledo, DiSalle received his law degree from Georgetown in 1931. After five years of practicing law, he began a three decade career in politics, including service in the Ohio legislature, as mayor of Toledo from 1948 to 1950, and the governor of Ohio from 1959 to 1963. At the time of the award, DiSalle served as the director of the Office of Price Stabilization under President Truman.
As governor, he was a favorite-son candidate for the 1960 Democratic party nomination for President and finished sixth in the overall vote. After his run as governor, he returned to practice law in Washington and founded the National Committee to Abolish The Federal Death Penalty, writing in 1965 that that "no one who has never watched the hands of a clock marking the last minutes of a condemned man's existence, knowing that he alone has the temporary Godlike power to stop the clock, can realize the agony of deciding an appeal for executive clemency."
Gov. Michael DiSalle died in 1981 at the age of 73. The government center in Toledo is named in his honor, as well as the bridge from Interstate 75 that enters the city.
Hon. Walter J. Donnelly
(1896-1970)
BSFS 1921 New Haven, CT
Walter Donnelly, the first recipient of the John Carroll Award from the School of Foreign Service, was honored in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A native of New Haven CT, Donnelly served in World War I before pursuing his studies at Georgetown, graduating from the School of Foreign Service in 1921. He served 19 years in the foreign service branch of the Department of Commerce before being commissioned a Foreign Service Officer by the Department of State in 1939. Following World War II, He served as a U.S. Ambassador in Costa Rica (1947), Venezuela (1947-1950) and Austria (1950-1952) and was named High Commissioner of the United States in Germany in 1952.
Donnelly retired from public service in 1952 and relocated to Caracas, serving as an international representative for the U.S. Steel Corporation until 1966. He died in 1970 at the age of 74.
Hon. Charles Fahy
(1892-1979)
LLB 1914, Honorary degree 1942Washington DC
Judge Charles Fahy, who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from 1950 through 1967, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born in 1892 in Rome, Georgia, Fahy received his bachelor's degree from Notre Dame in 1912 and his law degree from Georgetown in 1914. He received the Navy Cross for his service as an aviator in World War I, and practiced law in Santa Fe, NM until 1933, when he was named assistant solicitor to the Department of the Interior.
Following five years as the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board from 1935-1940, Fahy was named as the 26th U.S. Solicitor General in 1941, serving in that post throughout World War II. In 1948, he served on the presidential commission that integrated the armed services, and was named to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1950. His dissent in Thompson v. District of Columbia (1953) was later cited in the unanimous Supreme Court opinion ending legal segregation in the District.
Upon his retirement from the active bench in 1967, he served as a senior judge until his death in 1979 at the age of 87. An active member of the Georgetown Law community for many years, Judge Fahy served on the board of the Law Center's Institute of Law, Human Rights, and Social Values, and the Advisory Board for Continuing Legal Studies. He received the President's Medal in 1979.
In a 1979 memoriam written by Professor Sherman Cohn in the Georgetown Law Journal, he recalled a speech by Judge Fahy at the dedication of the new law library in 1971. " There are two concepts of freedom," he said. "One is the freedom the law allows, the blessings of liberty our Founders envisaged as the fruit of their plan of government. The other is the freedom of the spirit, rooted in the moral law, freedom from an abuse of the freedom the law allows. To the extent that these two freedoms merge into one, and only to that extent, is there true freedom. So it seems to me."
Hugh J. Fegan
(1881-1954)
AB 1901, AM 1902, LLB 1907, PhD, 1916Honorary Degree, 1943
Washington DC
Hugh Fegan, dean of the Georgetown Law School from 1943 to 1954, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Fegan earned his bachelor's degree from the College in 1901, followed by a master's degree, a law degree and a Ph.D. He joined the Law School faculty in 1908 as an assistant professor and became the school's secretary/treasurer in 1911. Following a short tenure with the Department of Agriculture and military service during World War I, he returned as a professor of insurance law and was appointed to assistant dean in 1919, serving for nearly a quarter century in that position under legendary dean George Hamilton. Elevated to dean in 1943, he served 11 years under failing health; he moved to dean emeritus in the months prior to his 1954 death.
David J. Fitzgibbon DDS
(1902-1980)
DDS 1925Washington DC
David Fitzgibbon, a prominent Washington area dentist, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
At the time of the award, Dr. Fitzgibbon served as First Vice-President of the American Dental Association, having previously served as its convention chairman in 1951.
Hugh A. Grant
(1911-1979)
AB 1933, Honorary degree 1973Bradford, PA
Hugh A. Grant, an alumni volunteer and philanthropist, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born and raised in Bradford, PA, Grant attended Georgetown from 1929 to 1933, and upon graduation founded the Grant & Mohan Oil Company, selling it in 1946 for $10.6 million to the predecessor company to Pennzoil. A multi-millionaire at the age of 35, Grant spent the majority of his retirement as a philanthropist, becoming one of the nation's most prominent harness racing owners, serving for 14 years as a director of the Hambletonian Society, the nation's premier harness stakes race.
Grant was generous to a number of colleges, including St. Bonaventure and the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. He supported a number of Georgetown programs, most notably the creation of the Thomas F. Ryan lecture series at the Law Center.
Hugh Grant died in 1979 at the age of 68.
Maj. Gen. George A. Horkan
(1894-1974)
AB 1915Washington, DC
George A. Horkan, 34th Quartermaster General of the United States Army, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A native of Augusta, GA and a 1915 graduate of the College, Horkan served in the Army for 38 years, beginning with the Georgia National Guard in 1916. Horkan served in the 7th Infantry under Gen. John Pershing in World War I, and held numerous administrative posts for the Department of War before serving as commandant of the U.S. quartermaster school at Fort Lee, VA during World War II. While at Fort Lee he led efforts to provide equal transportation to black soldiers denied carriage on local buses, which was later adopted by the Army as a whole. It was Horkan who was credited with this quintessential Army quote: "If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, pick it up. If you can't pick it up, paint it green & white."
A recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal in 1946, Horkan played a key role in shipments into and out of West Berlin during the Soviet-led blockade; for this, he was awarded the Medal for Humane Action. He was promoted to Quartermaster General of the Army in 1951 at the height of the Korean War, serving until his retirement in 1954.
A member of the Quartermaster Hall of Fame, General Horkan died in 1974.
Hon. Bolitha J. Laws
(1891-1958)
LLB 1913, LLM 1914Washington, DC
Bolitha Laws, a federal judge who served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia from 1938-1958, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Judge Laws was born in Washington in 1891, attending night school at Georgetown to earn his law degree in 1913, where he was editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. Admitted to the bar in 1915, he later spent 20 years in private practice alongside fellow alumnus Paul B. Cromelin (LLB 1912, LLM 1914), forming one of the most respected law firms in the city.
Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for a seat on the U.S. District Court on June 16, 1938, he was conformed by the Senate in just eight days and served in three different roles on the court over a 20 year career, including three years as its chief justice and ten years as its chief judge.
Still on the court, Judge Laws died in 1958 at the age of 67, In a memoriam, the American Bar Association Journal called him "one of the most creative judicial administrators of his time" and added: "Laws will be best remembered for the combination of personal qualities which he brought to his life and work: scholarship backed by engrained common sense, strong religious conviction springing from an unquenchable zest for life, and a meticulous impartiality and fairness, mediated by an unfailing sympathy for the conditions and needs for others."
William E. Leahy
(1886-1956)
LLB 1912, LLM 1913Honorary degree, 1943
Washington, DC
William E. ("Bill") Leahy, an attorney, civic leader and college president, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born in Monson, MA in 1886, Leahy received his bachelor's degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1907 and following two years as a vice-principal at a nearby high school, turned his attention to law, enrolling at Georgetown and earning two law degrees there. He served an an instructor in the law school from 1916-22 before beginning a successful career in the United States Attorney's office, including 22 years as a special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States.
Named to numerous federal and civic appointments over his lifetime, Leahy served as the D.C. Director of the Selective Service under Presidents Roosevelt and Truman and was named to civilian boards for the Secretary of the Army and the Atomic Energy Commission.
In 1932, Leahy was named the president of Columbus University, a Washington based law school founded in 1919 by the Knights of Columbus for Catholic veterans interested in studying law. Leahy served in the role for 22 years, but facing declining enrollment in the early 1950's, he negotiated the acquisition of Columbus by the Catholic University of America in 1954, now known as the Columbus School of Law. Leahy Hall on the CUA campus is named in his honor.
Bill Leahy died in 1956 at the age of 70.
Thomas E. Leavey
(1897-1980)
LLB 1923, Honorary degree, 1950Los Angeles, CA
Thomas E. Leavey, co-founder of the Farmers Insurance Group, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born in Ferndale, CA in 1897, Leavey attended Santa Clara as an undergraduate before traveling east to Washington, where he earned a law degree in 1923. Instead of law, however, Leavey saw a business need in the rural communities of the state. He joined with fellow businessman John C. Tyler to form the Farmers Automobile Inter-Insurance Exchange in Los Angeles in 1927. During the height of the Great Depression, Farmers opted to pay claims in cash rather than IOU's, and won a generation of loyal customers as a result. Within a decade, Farmers was the leading auto insurer in the nation and the first to offer comprehensive auto coverage, with monthly payment plans that did not involve charging interest.
Leavey served as the firm's CEO until 1978, and died in 1980 at the age of 82. The company he founded remains one of the most prominent insurers in the nation.
Founded in 1952, the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation has donated over $100 million worldwide to the causes of Catholic charities, medical research, and higher education. The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center, built in 1988, was named in honor of Leavey and his wife, Dorothy (1897-1998). The foundation also founded the Leavey Chair in the Department of Government.
John E. McShain
(1898-1989)
Honorary degree, 1943Philadelphia, PA
John McShain, the developer known as "the man who built Washington," received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born in 1898, McShain grew up in Philadelphia, where his father built churches and schools for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. McShain left Georgetown following the death of his father in 1919, and established his own construction company thereafter. The McShain Company soon became one of the leading construction companies in Philadelphia, and was selected to build the new St. Joseph's University along City Avenue in 1926. Later projects included Philadelphia International Airport, the Naval Hospital, and the Municipal Court House. He was invited by President Roosevelt to build the FDR presidential library at Hyde Park, NY, the first modern presidential library of its kind.
McShain later turned his attention to Washington. Over the course of the next three decades, the McShain Company served as builders of over 100 construction projects in the city, with a list of landmarks recognizable to this day: the Pentagon, the Jefferson Memorial, the Library of Congress Annex, National Airport, the Department of State, and the Kennedy Center. "Wherever a tourist goes in Washington, he usually finds that a fellow named McShain has been there before him," wrote Time magazine. In 1949, he was selected to lead the effort to rebuild the White House, and in 1950, returned to Georgetown's campus to build McDonough Gymnasium, albeit with much less fanfare and budget.
An avid sportsman and philanthropist, he gave generously to the cause of Catholic higher education, and nearly found himself a pro sports owner. McShain often told the story of being invited in 1943 to buy the Philadelphia Phillies for $250,000. His wife told him to get his money back, and so he did.
McShain variously served on Georgetown's Board of Regents and Board of Directors over his lifetime. he died at the age of 92 in 1989; in 2002, his family donated a student lounge in his name.
Thomas C. Mee
(1895-1961)
AB 1917Providence, RI
Thomas Mee, a past president of the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 1948-1950, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A lifelong son of Rhode Island, Mee was a business leader in the industrial communities of Providence, specializing in paint and shellac production. He was a formative leader of the Georgetown Club of Rhode Island, served as president of the Alumni Association from 1948 through 1950, and succeeded Charles Milton, listed below, as national chair of the McDonough Gymnasium campaign in 1950.
Thomas Mee led the efforts to bring the 1961 John Carroll Awards to Rhode Island. He died suddenly one week after the 1961 awards at the age of 66.
Charles J. Milton
(1913-1982)
AB 1935, Honorary 1948Newark, NJ
Charles Milton, the chairman of the Alumni Association's McDonough Gymnasium fundraising campaign, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Milton was a successful attorney in Spring Lake, NJ when he was tapped to lead the statewide effort to raise funds for St. Vincent's Hospital. The inaugural event drew 1,800 guests to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and helped raise over $1 million. Today, the event known as the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner has become one of the most prestigious charitable events in the nation.
In 1948, Milton was recruited to lead the Alumni Association's effort to raise funds for a new gymnasium. In his two years as national chairman, the effort raised nearly $600,000. He served as an appointed member of the Alumni Association Board of Governors and represented the Association at the 1949 inauguration of Rev. J. Hunter Guthrie, S.J. as University President.
Charles Milton died in 1982 at the age of 69.
Hon. Thomas F. Murphy
(1905-1995)
AB 1927New York, NY
Thomas Murphy, the former police commissioner of New York City and a federal judge, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A lifelong resident of New York, Murphy graduated from Regis High School in 1923 before beginning studies at Georgetown, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1927. Following a law degree from Fordham in 1930, he served in private practice for 12 years before being appointed as an assistant U.S. attorney. In his eight years, he owned a 99 percent conviction rate, according to the New York Times. In 1949, he was the lead prosecutor in a federal trial against Alger Hiss, whose conviction on perjury charges was a national story.
In 1950, he was appointed police commissioner and was viewed favorably as a reformer. "He had restored the self respect of police officers who had suffered through the greed of their corrupt comrades," wrote Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri.
"I am convinced today that basically, the large percentage of public servants are morally and intellectually honest, Murphy said. "They try to do a day's job, honestly and conscientiously. There should be no place in government for the venal rascals who bring harm to other loyal workers as well as violate the public trust."
In 1951, President Truman appointed him to the New York federal circuit court, where he served for 19 years. However, he was not the most famous member of his family--his younger brother Johnny was a three time All-Star for the New York Yankees and later served as general manager of the New York Mets.
Judge Murphy retired from the bench in 1970, and died in 1995 at the age of 89.
Dr. Thomas Parran, Jr.
(1892-1968)
MD 1915Pittsburgh, PA
Thomas Parran, Surgeon General of the United States from 1936 through 1948, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Raised on a farm in Calvert County, MD, Parran received a bachelors degree from St. John's College before receiving his medical degree from Georgetown in 1915. Following service in World War I, Dr. Parran became one of the nation's foremost researchers in rural health and disease prevention, leading a national effort to treat syphilis as a public health issue and not simply as a moral one. As surgeon general, Parran led the efforts to pass the National Venereal Disease Control Act of 1938, setting up rapid treatment centers and establishing the first attempts at patient tracing to reduce the rate of infection. He helped lead U.S. efforts in the creation of the World Health Organization and appeared on the cover of Time magazine on Oct. 26, 1936.
At the time of the award, Parran served as dean of the school of public health at the University of Pittsburgh. He died in 1968 at the age of 75; however, his reputation was irreparably damaged four years later following a Washington Star report which exposed the Tuskegee syphilis experiments begun by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1932 and which had continued through 1972.
John A. Romweber
(1901-1987)
AB 1923Batesville, IN
John Romweber, former president of the American Furniture Company, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born and raised in Batesville, Indiana, Romweber was the first of three brothers who attended Georgetown from 1919 through 1930. Following his graduation from the College in 1923, he returned home to the family furniture business, which was one of the nation's most popular manufacturers of affordable household furniture. The company, begun in the 1870's and renamed as Romweber Furniture in the 1930's, closed in 2009.
Romweber served from 1950 through 1952 as Vice President of the Alumni Association. He died in 1987 at the age of 85.
Paul R. Rowen
(1899-1970)
A.B. 1921Washington, DC
Paul Rowen, former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
A 1921 graduate of the College, Rowen returned to his hometown of Boston to attend Harvard Law School, eventually receiving his degree from Boston University in 1925. Following private practice, he served four four years as an assistant district attorney before joining the Securities and Exchange Commission staff in 1936, rising through the ranks until he was named a commissioner by President Truman in 1948, serving through 1955.
Rowen died in 1970 at the age of 71.
Frederick B. Sitterding, Jr.
(1887-1961)
A.B. 1912, Honorary degree 1953Richmond, VA
Frederick ("Fritz") Sitterding, alumni volunteer and Richmond businessman, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Fritz and his brother Billy were members of the College Class of 1912, and both found themselves returning home to Richmond where their father Frederick Sr. purchased the Home Brewing Company in 1916. Following Prohibition, Fritz took over as president of the company, whose popular Richbrau brand survived into the late 1960's.
Sitterding served on the Board of Governors of the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 1942 through 1948, and was awarded an honorary degree at the 1953 commencement exercises. He died in 1961 at the age of 74.
Hon. Francis E. Walter
(1894-1963)
LLB 1919Washington, DC
Francis Walter, a 15-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Born in Easton PA, and educated at neighboring Lehigh University, Walter received his law degree from Georgetown in 1919. He served in prior practice in Easton for a decade and was selected as a delegate to the 1928 Democratic Convention. From, there, he served five years as the solicitor of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and was elected to Congress in 1932.
A conservative Democrat, Walter served 30 years in the House. He co-authored the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 and was chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee from 1955 to 1963.
A veteran of two world wars, Rep. Walter died in office and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in 1963.
Charles M. Williams
(1913-1998)
AB 1935Cincinnati, OH
Charles Williams, a Cincinnati insurance executive, received the John Carroll Award in inaugural ceremonies held at the Mayflower Hotel on April 26, 1952.
Williams, a 1934 graduate of the College, succeeded his father as president of the Western and Southern Life Insurance Company and served as its chairman of the board from 1957 to 1973. His brother, William (C'37) was a former owner of the National League's Cincinnati Reds and a co-founder of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals.
In addition to his business and charitable interests in the Cincinnati area, Williams served as president of the Georgetown Club of Cincinnati and served two terms on the Board of Governors of the Alumni Association, including two years as vice president from 1952-1954.
The last surviving member of the inaugural class of John Carroll awardees, Charles Williams died in 1998 at the age of 85.