Georgetown University’s board of directors extended the search for the school’s 48th president yesterday, postponing the selection and announcement of a successor to University President Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., to the spring of 2001.

John R. Kennedy (C ’52), chairman of Georgetown’s board of directors, granted a request by the presidential search committee for more time to interview candidates and submit a list of finalists to the board.

Georgetown’s next president was originally scheduled to be announced after the board’s Dec. 6 meeting in Washington, D.C. Kennedy’s decision to grant an extension effectively postpones any announcement until the board’s next meeting, slated for mid-February.

“They are interviewing candidates and conducting background [reviews],” Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green-Bataille said of the presidential search committee. “The search committee asked for a little more time; the board has agreed.”

Green-Bataille said Georgetown’s board of directors typically meets four times per year.

In a letter posted on Georgetown University’s Web site, Kennedy said that the committee “expects to complete its work and the board expects to announce its decision in the spring semester, ensuring a smooth transition of leadership . We will, of course, announce the Board’s decision promptly.”

Last March, O’Donovan announced his intention to retire as Georgetown’s 47th president on June 30, 2001. By extending the search process into the spring, Georgetown’s next president will have four months to prepare for assuming Georgetown’s presidency, rather than six months, had the announcement been made in December as originally scheduled.

“It will have no bearing,” Green-Bataille said of the extension’s effect on the transition of leadership. “We expect the final decision to be made in time for a smooth transition to occur.”

Georgetown University is one of two prominent Jesuit institutions searching for new chief executives. Loyola University of Chicago is also conducting a presidential search with a timetable that mirrors Georgetown’s.

Loyola’s presidential search committee is also in the interview stage, but could submit its list of finalists to the school’s board of trustees as early as next week when its board convenes.

“Hopefully, we can agree on a candidate to be recommended to the board of trustees very soon,” Michael R. Quinlan, chairman of Loyola Chicago’s board of trustees and head of its presidential search committee, said in a Nov. 27 letter to Loyola students. “We anticipate that the final candidate will meet with key constituencies of Loyola University of Chicago, prior to final approval by the board.”

At least one name has surfaced as a candidate for both posts. Bernard P. Knoth, S.J., president of Loyola University New Orleans, told a student newspaper at his school in September that he had been contacted by “third parties” about the presidency at Georgetown. According to an article published last week in The Phoenix, a student newspaper at Loyola University of Chicago, Knoth is one of two finalists for the presidency there.

The Maroon, a student newspaper at Loyola University New Orleans, reported last week that Knoth, who stepped down as associate dean of Georgetown College in 1995 to assume the presidency at Loyola New Orleans, would be in Washington D.C. on Dec. 6, the day Georgetown’s board of directors is scheduled to meet.

Green-Bataille would not confirm if Knoth were a candidate, but said, “Our search committee reviews several candidates. Our search process remains confidential.”

Public affairs officials at Loyola University New Orleans did not return messages left yesterday to confirm the reports.