Former Georgetown professor and alumnus William V. O’Brien passed away July 8 at his home in Washington, D.C. after he sustained injuries to his head in a fall. O’Brien, 79, graduated from Georgetown and later received both a master’s degree and a doctorate in government at the university. He returned to Georgetown to teach government from 1950 until 1993.

During his years at Georgetown he served as chairman of the government department twice, as well as chairman of the Institute of World Policy. O’Brien was an expert in the field of the just war doctrine, and authored such books as Nuclear War, Deterrence, and Morality, The Conduct of Just and Limited War and War And/Or Survival.

O’Brien served the U.S. Army during World War II, and later served in the Army Reserve. During the 1960s, he presided over the Catholic Association of International Peace and chaired the International Relations Committee at the Vatican as part of the Third World Congress of the Law Apostolate.

O’Brien is survived by his brother Daniel O’Brien and sister Kathleen O’Brien. His wife, Madge Roberts O’Brien, passed away in 1996.