Timothy S. Healy, S.J. Award Recipients & Biographies

The Timothy S. Healy, S.J. Award is named for Rev. Timothy S. Healy, S.J., the 46th President of Georgetown University (1976-1989). Established in 1996, this award is conferred upon an alumnus of Georgetown who has rendered outstanding and exemplary community service or public service or professional service in support of humanitarian causes and advancements for the benefit of mankind. A maximum number of 2 recipients may be selected at any time and only one will be publicly announced. While nominations are accepted annually, the award shall be conferred at a place/time as chosen by the Association in consultation with the University befitting the stature of this award. Nominations for this award shall be made by members of the Board of Governors rather than by the Georgetown alumni community at-large.

2019 – Ambassador Melanne Verveer (SLL’66, G’69, P94)

Ambassador Verveer is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She also serves as the Special Representative on Gender Issues for the OSCE Chairmanship. Amb. Verveer previously served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which she was nominated by President Obama in 2009. She coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women, traveling to nearly sixty countries. She worked to ensure that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy, and she played a leadership role in the Administration’s development of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. President Obama also appointed her to serve as the U.S. Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Amb. Verveer currently serves as the Special Representative on Gender Issues for the OSCE Chairmanship.

2018 – The Hon. Richard J. Durbin (SFS ’66, L ’69, P90)

Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Springfield, is the 47th U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois, the state’s senior senator, and the convener of Illinois’ bipartisan congressional delegation. Durbin also serves as the Democratic Whip, the second highest ranking position among the Senate Democrats. Senator Durbin has been elected to this leadership post by his Democratic colleagues every two years since 2005. Elected to the U.S. Senate on November 5, 1996, and re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014, Durbin fills the seat left vacant by the retirement of his long-time friend and mentor, U.S. Senator Paul Simon. Durbin sits on the Senate Judiciary, Appropriations, and Rules Committees. He is the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and the Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee. He is married to Loretta Schaefer Durbin. Their family consists of three children—Christine (deceased), Paul, and Jennifer—as well as three grandchildren, Alex, Ona, and Floyd. They reside in Springfield. Durbin received his undergraduate degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and his juris doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.

2017 – The Hon. Senator George J. Mitchell (L’61, H’89, P23)

George J. Mitchell served as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace from January 2009 to May 2011. Prior to that, he had a distinguished career in public service. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1980 to complete the unexpired term of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, who resigned to become Secretary of State. He was elected to a full term in the Senate in 1982 and went on to an illustrious career in the Senate spanning 15 years, including a six-year term as Senate Majority Leader. Among his many accomplishments, Senator Mitchell served as the Independent Chairman of the Northern Ireland Peace Talks. Under his leadership, the Good Friday Agreement, a historic accord ending decades of conflict, was agreed to by the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom and the political parties of Northern Ireland. Senator Mitchell also served as chairman of the global board of the law firm DLA Piper; as chairman of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company; as member of the board of the Boston Red Sox; and as director of several companies, including Federal Express, Xerox, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. He received an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and his juris doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.

2015 – Dr. Dikembe Mutombo (SLL’91, H’10, P19, P23, P24)

The talent of Dikembe Mutombo as a legendary basketball player can only be surpassed by the depth of his spirit of giving and care for others.

As a young man in his hometown of Kinshasa, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Mutombo dreamed of becoming a doctor. In 1987, at age 19, he headed to Georgetown with an academic scholarship. By his second year, Coach John Thompson Jr. had persuaded him to try out for the men’s basketball team. Under the famed coach’s guidance, he honed his talent and became a powerhouse defensive player for the Hoyas. He also re-routed his ambitions for medical school, earning dual bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy instead; he is now fluent in nine languages.

After graduating in 1991, he entered the National Basketball Association as the fourth pick in the 1991 NBA draft. During his 18-season career in the league, he was known for his outstanding shot-blocking and rebounding power. Named an NBA All-Star eight times and NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times, he still holds the league record as second all-time in registered blocks.

Off the court, he has always been committed to helping others. In 1997, he set up the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve the health, education and quality of life for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2007, the foundation opened Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, located in the capital city of Kinshasa and named in memory of Mr. Mutombo’s mother. To date, over 120,000 patients have been treated there. It is the first hospital of its kind to be opened in the nation in 40 years.

2012 – The Hon. Mark R. Dybul, M.D. (C’85, M’92, H’08)

Ambassador Mark R. Dybul is a Distinguished Scholar at Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is also the inaugural global health fellow at the George W. Bush Institute and serves as the managing director of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria. Ambassador Dybul served as the U.S. Global AIDS coordinator from 2006 to the end of the George W. Bush administration. In that role, he led the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief —the largest international health initiative in history for a single disease. Ambassador Dybul oversaw the United States government’s engagement in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and chaired the Finance and Audit Committee. He also led President Bush’s International Prevention of Mother and Child HIV Initiative at the Department of Health and Human Services and was the executive secretary for the HHS’ guidelines on adult and adolescent HIV therapy and was a member of the writing committee for the World Health Organization’s guidelines on the use of antiretroviral therapy. At HHS, Ambassador Dybul was assistant director for medical affairs at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health, and was one of the principal architects of basic and clinical research with a particular emphasis on HIV treatment in Africa.

2009 – President William J. Clinton (SFS’68, H’80)

Clinton received the award during the 2009 John Carroll Weekend in New York. He was honored for his humanitarian service through his presidency and the Clinton Foundation.

1997 – Sadako Ogata (G’53, H’13)

The inaugural recipient of the award, Ogata was recognized in 1997 at the School of Foreign Service commencement for her work as the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.