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Rev. Allen Novotny dies;
Gonzaga College High
School president was 58
By Emma Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 29, 2010; 10:14 PM
The Rev. Allen P. Novotny, a Jesuit priest
who oversaw a massive fundraising campaign
and renovation effort at Gonzaga College
High School in downtown Washington, where
he served for the past 16 years as president,
died Oct. 27 at the District's Gonzaga Jesuit
Community. He was 58.
A spokeswoman for the D.C. medical
examiner's office said the cause of death
was hypertensive and atherosclerotic
cardiovascular disease.
Father Novotny arrived in 1994 at Gonzaga,
a private Catholic high school that was
founded in 1821 and has been at its current
location - at I and North Capitol streets NW
- since 1871.
Gonzaga's aging buildings were in desperate need of upgrading and
modernization when Father Novotny took the helm.
With an affable demeanor and armed with a business degree, he led the
school through two capital campaigns that together raised more than $30
million, according to the Rev. Thomas Clifford, rector of Gonzaga's Jesuit
community. That effort has given the school, which enrolls more than 900
students, the means to renovate and expand its classrooms, cafeteria and other
facilities.
"He was a priest with an MBA, so he had a good handle on the business
realities of life," said Stuart Long, a 1960 graduate who owns the Hawk 'n'
Dove pub on Capitol Hill and has been a fundraiser for the school. "He knew
that the future of Gonzaga depended on it getting a much better physical
plant."
Allen Paul Novotny was born June 22, 1952, in Baltimore. He grew up with
three sisters, two of whom survive.
Father Novotny graduated from Loyola High School in Towson, where he
was a student council member and - according to Father Clifford, a Loyola
classmate - "the great Latin star of our homeroom."
Father Novotny entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac
Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., in 1970. He pronounced his first vows there in
1972.
In 1975, he graduated with a degree in history from Fordham University in
New York. He went on to teach American history for several years at Loyola,
his alma mater, where he was also dean of students.
In 1982, he received a master's degree in divinity from the Weston theology
school in Cambridge, Mass., and was ordained to the priesthood.
During the 1980s, he served as assistant director of resident life at what is
now Loyola University Maryland and was director of the campus ministry. He
was also a student at Loyola in this period; he received a master's in pastoral
counseling in 1984 and a master's in business administration in 1989.
Father Novotny returned to Loyola High School in Towson in 1990. He was
rector of the Jesuit Community and taught religious studies and German for
four years until he moved to Gonzaga to serve as president.
When Martin O'Malley was inaugurated four years ago as Maryland
governor, he invited the priest to officiate at a prayer breakfast preceding the
ceremony.
O'Malley, a 1981 Gonzaga graduate, said, "I saw Father Novotny as carrying
on that great Jesuit tradition of being a man for others, of teaching the next
generation that the fullest realization of our potential as individuals is the
degree to which we're able to give ourselves in service to others."
Gonzaga College High
School president was 58
By Emma Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 29, 2010; 10:14 PM
The Rev. Allen P. Novotny, a Jesuit priest
who oversaw a massive fundraising campaign
and renovation effort at Gonzaga College
High School in downtown Washington, where
he served for the past 16 years as president,
died Oct. 27 at the District's Gonzaga Jesuit
Community. He was 58.
A spokeswoman for the D.C. medical
examiner's office said the cause of death
was hypertensive and atherosclerotic
cardiovascular disease.
Father Novotny arrived in 1994 at Gonzaga,
a private Catholic high school that was
founded in 1821 and has been at its current
location - at I and North Capitol streets NW
- since 1871.
Gonzaga's aging buildings were in desperate need of upgrading and
modernization when Father Novotny took the helm.
With an affable demeanor and armed with a business degree, he led the
school through two capital campaigns that together raised more than $30
million, according to the Rev. Thomas Clifford, rector of Gonzaga's Jesuit
community. That effort has given the school, which enrolls more than 900
students, the means to renovate and expand its classrooms, cafeteria and other
facilities.
"He was a priest with an MBA, so he had a good handle on the business
realities of life," said Stuart Long, a 1960 graduate who owns the Hawk 'n'
Dove pub on Capitol Hill and has been a fundraiser for the school. "He knew
that the future of Gonzaga depended on it getting a much better physical
plant."
Allen Paul Novotny was born June 22, 1952, in Baltimore. He grew up with
three sisters, two of whom survive.
Father Novotny graduated from Loyola High School in Towson, where he
was a student council member and - according to Father Clifford, a Loyola
classmate - "the great Latin star of our homeroom."
Father Novotny entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac
Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., in 1970. He pronounced his first vows there in
1972.
In 1975, he graduated with a degree in history from Fordham University in
New York. He went on to teach American history for several years at Loyola,
his alma mater, where he was also dean of students.
In 1982, he received a master's degree in divinity from the Weston theology
school in Cambridge, Mass., and was ordained to the priesthood.
During the 1980s, he served as assistant director of resident life at what is
now Loyola University Maryland and was director of the campus ministry. He
was also a student at Loyola in this period; he received a master's in pastoral
counseling in 1984 and a master's in business administration in 1989.
Father Novotny returned to Loyola High School in Towson in 1990. He was
rector of the Jesuit Community and taught religious studies and German for
four years until he moved to Gonzaga to serve as president.
When Martin O'Malley was inaugurated four years ago as Maryland
governor, he invited the priest to officiate at a prayer breakfast preceding the
ceremony.
O'Malley, a 1981 Gonzaga graduate, said, "I saw Father Novotny as carrying
on that great Jesuit tradition of being a man for others, of teaching the next
generation that the fullest realization of our potential as individuals is the
degree to which we're able to give ourselves in service to others."
The Rev. Allen P. Novotny led the
school through two capital
campaigns that raised more than
$30 million. "He was a priest with
an MBA, so he had a good handle
on the business realities of life,"
said Hawk 'n' Dove owner Stuart
Long, a 1960 graduate who has
been a fundraiser for the school.
"He knew that the future of
Gonzaga depended on it getting a
much better physical plant."
(Courtesy Gonzaga College High
School)
school through two capital
campaigns that raised more than
$30 million. "He was a priest with
an MBA, so he had a good handle
on the business realities of life,"
said Hawk 'n' Dove owner Stuart
Long, a 1960 graduate who has
been a fundraiser for the school.
"He knew that the future of
Gonzaga depended on it getting a
much better physical plant."
(Courtesy Gonzaga College High
School)