Leadership

Julia Farr, a sixth-generation Washingtonian and third-generation Hoya, is the first female executive director of the Georgetown University Alumni Association (GUAA). Farr is an attorney and entrepreneur.

She has 17 years of experience as a corporate securities attorney and executive, beginning her legal career at K&L Gates and later becoming vice president and chief compliance officer for public real estate investment trust Sotherly Hotels. In 2010, Farr left the practice of law to build a career in fashion. She opened her eponymous boutique in Washington, DCC. In 2012, she launched the Julia Farr Collection, a U.S.-based women’s apparel design, manufacturing, and sales company focused on the sartorial needs of the professional woman which donated a portion of sales to women’s and children’s charities.

Since graduating from Georgetown in 1988, Farr has volunteered extensively. In addition to serving on the GUAA Board of Governors and as a class ambassador for many years, she headed the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 2010 to 2012. During her term, she enhanced opportunities for alumnae connections and connected alumni based on special interests and professional affiliations. As all GUAA presidents do, during her GUAA presidency, she served simultaneously on the university’s Board of Directors.

As executive director, Farr oversees the Alumni Association Board of Governors, Career and Lifelong Learning, Law Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, Medical Center Constituent Engagement,Professional Alliances & Affinity, and Regional Engagement teams. Since arriving back on the Hilltop in 2018, Farr has focused on the Association diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy and efforts, spoken to alumni audiences across the globe, and led GUAA’s COVID-19 pandemic pivot to virtual alumni engagement which , offered hundreds of virtual events Hoyas. She is the host of “1789 Seconds,” a virtual fireside chat series featuring alumni stories and is a frequent contributor to the GUAA Ask the Author series and the Georgetown Magazine.

Farr lives on the corner of 36th and O and is the proud parent of three Hoyas, classes of 2019, 2021, and 2024. She is also the part-time parent of Jack the Bulldog!

Gail Gillis-Louis (C’75)

Gail Gillis-Louis (C’75), has been engaged in leadership almost from the moment she walked on campus. A John Carroll awardee and former Georgetown Cheerleading Captain, Gillis-Louis was recognized as an exemplar of excellence during the 15th anniversary celebration of women in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her leadership roles range from serving as a founding member of the Board of Advisors of the College, to membership on the Board of Hoyas Unlimited and the Alumni Admissions Program, to pioneering the establishment of vehicles for the engagement of Black alumni through the Patrick Healy Dinner, the African American Advisory Board, and the Black Alumni Council. Since completing two terms on the Board of Governors, she has remained an active Alumni Senate member.

Professionally, her career in the financial services industry has included retail and mortgage banking, from operations to lending. Her passion, however, has been enabling small and medium-sized businesses and nonprofits to expand and thrive. She particularly relishes the opportunity to help guide minority and women-owned businesses achieve their goals. Her career includes substantial experience in major financial institutions, most recently in the Business Banking Division of PNC Bank. Gillis-Louis is also a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her MBA with a concentration in marketing and finance.

A fifth-generation Washingtonian, Gail is proud to reside locally with her husband, Conan (SLL’73, G’78, L’86), and their daughter Maya, where she serves as the President of the Parish Council at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, just outside Healy Gates.

Presidents

21st Century
2025-2025 Fitz O. Lufkin IV (C’11, G’12)
2022-2024 Kelly Mulvoy Mangan (SFS’91)
2020-2022 Frank Ciatto (B’88, L’94)
2018-2020 Richard M. Hluchan (F’71)
2016-2018 Jeff Chapski (B’91)
2014-2016 George J. Peacock (C’84)
2012-2014 Mary Beth Connell, M.D. (M’89)
2010-2012 Julia Farr (C’88)
2008-2010 Paul C. Besozzi (F’69, L’72)
2006-2008 Philip T. Inglima (C’84, L’88)
2004-2006 Mark Siskin (F’71)
2002-2004 Kathleen A. Baczko (I’68)
2000-2002 John A. Gaberino, Jr. (C’63, L’66)

20th Century
1998-2000 William G. Reynolds (C’79)
1996-1998 Marcia G. Cooke (F’75)
1994-1996 Rory F. Quirk (C’65, G’71, L’80)
1992-1994 Charles R. Fazio (C’57)
1990-1992 Paul Anthony Ritacco (B’64)
1988-1990 Raymond D. O’Brien (C’49, L’51)
1986-1988 W. Dennis Owen (F’51)
1984-1986 Joseph A. Riggs (C’55, M’59)
1982-1984 Francis L. Casey (C’50, L’52)
1980-1982 Joseph DeSesa (C’37)
1978-1980 Harry J. Smith, Jr. (C’41)
1976-1978 John E. Rooney (C’48, L’51)
1974-1976 Harry J. Connolly (C’38)
1972-1974 William T. Dooley, Jr. (C’43)
1970-1972 James C. Shannon, Jr. (C’50)
1968-1970 J. Nevins McBride (C’29)
1966-1968 Louis B. Fine (C’25)
1964-1966 Eugene L. Stewart (C’48)
1962-1964 William S. Catherwood (C’42)
1960-1962 Leo A. Codd (L’22, G’23)
1958-1960 James Butler (C’21)
1956-1958 Eugene P. McCahill (C’21)
1954-1956 Joseph Brennan (C’25)
1952-1954 John J. Tunmore (C’31)
1950-1952 Thomas Egan (C’17)
1948-1950 Thomas C. Mee (C’17)
1944-1948 Thomas A. Dean (C’20)
1940-1944 Martin F. Conboy (1898)
1919-1940 Frank J. Hogan (1902)
1913-1919 Charles DeCourcy (1878)
1907-1913 George Hamilton (1872)
1905-1907 Edward D.White (1863)
1903-1905 Ernest La Place (1880)
1899-1903 Charles A. Hoyt (1857)

19th Century
1897-1899 Martin F. Morris
1895-1897 John T. Doyle
1891-1895 Richard Clarke
1889-1891 Walter S. Cox (1843)
1887-1889 James V. Coleman (1869)
1885-1887 Thomas Semmes (1842)
1883-1885 Charles J Faulkner (1822)
1881-1883 William Corcoran (1811)
1875-1881 Walter S. Cox (1843)

Executive Directors

2018-         Julia Farr (C’88)
2001-2018 William G. Reynolds (C’79)
2000-2001 Paul J. Maloy (F’68)
1997-2000 Patrick J. McArdle (C’72, L’77)
1992-1997 Conan N. Louis (I’73, MS’78, L’86)
1989-1992 John F. Burgess (C’63, MA’66)
1984-1989 John C. Courtin (C’70, L’78)
1969-1984 James P. Reed (C’53)
1964-1968 Bernard A. Carter (C’49)
1938-1964 James S. Ruby (H’27)