Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel Leadership Update

April 21, 2023

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:
 
I write to share a senior leadership update for our Office of the Chief Operating Officer and our Office of the General Counsel.
 
It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of David Green as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Adam Adler as Vice President and General Counsel.
 
Over the past two years, Dave and Adam have been serving in these roles in interim capacities, and both have demonstrated exceptional leadership in supporting our community as we have navigated the challenges and complexities of this moment in higher education.
 
Dave first joined Georgetown in 2018 as our Chief Financial Officer. Since August 2021, when he took on the role of Interim COO and Senior Vice President, he has provided a strong financial framework for our community that has enabled us to navigate the pandemic while maintaining educational continuity and protecting our workforce. Under his direction, our team supported the implementation of our public health protocols, provided a new structure for hybrid and telework employees, and enhanced benefits relating to child and dependent care, mental health and well-being, and our overall framework for paid leave. Dave’s contributions have enabled us to invest in important infrastructure projects, with a focus on deferred maintenance, ADA accessibility and building access, and sustainability, and to continue our work to develop our downtown presence, with the construction and acquisition of buildings in direct proximity to our Law Center. Dave brings an approach that deeply values the people at Georgetown and our educational mission, and he has recently launched efforts to ensure we are providing the very best context for our faculty and staff colleagues. I am grateful to Dave for taking on this role in a permanent capacity. With Dave’s appointment as COO, we will begin a search for a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to serve our community.
 
Adam Adler is a longstanding member of our community, having served in the General Counsel’s Office since 2011 and as Interim Vice President and General Counsel since June 2021. Adam’s appointment comes after a national search process for our new General Counsel. He has extensive knowledge of the issues facing higher education, significant experience engaging complex issues at Georgetown, and a deep understanding of our mission and values. His efforts have provided a strong foundation for our community to advance our work and have enabled us to find resolution and common ground on important issues. He has helped to guide strategic initiatives, supported community health and welfare, and contributed to strengthening our work to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. He has worked closely with our senior leadership team, our Board of Directors, and our faculty leadership on a range of issues—bringing his expertise and experience working on complex matters involving speech and expression, athletics, sexual misconduct, and our pandemic response. He has led many of our institution’s efforts to advocate for students who are undocumented and for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Most recently, he organized an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of 57 Catholic colleges and universities that emphasized the importance of diversity to the mission of our institutions in response to the recent legal challenges to student admission practices. I am deeply grateful to Adam for the leadership he has provided Georgetown and for the important contributions he will make as our General Counsel.
 
Please join me in congratulating our colleagues as they continue to deepen their engagement at Georgetown.
 
You have my very best wishes in these final weeks of the spring semester. 
 
Sincerely,
 
John J. DeGioia