As the fall semester kicks off this Wednesday, Fr. James Schall, S.J., a pillar of the government department and Georgetown community, will be noticeably missing. Schall is on medical leave this semester as he completes radiation treatment and recovers from surgery to alleviate a cancerous jaw.

Schall was awarded the 2010 Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Award for Faculty Excellence, which is presented annually to a professor admired and respected by students for his or her service to Georgetown.

After undergoing extensive surgery that involved removing part of his jaw and the attendant teeth and replacing it with bone from his leg, Schall is halfway through his follow-up radiation.

“The doctors indicate that I am recovering from the jaw-cancer operation according to schedule. I should be able to teach in the spring semester, to which I look forward,” Schall said.

“I apologize for not making it this fall,” Schall said. “I appreciate Mrs. Emily Hoechst for taking the Elements [of Political Theory] class. She is an excellent teacher. I am sorry for the cancellation of the medieval theory class. I was looking forward to it.”

Schall also said he is thankful for the work of his doctors and the care of the Georgetown University Medical Center staff.

Alex Shashlo (COL ’12), one of the students for whom Schall acts as a major adviser in the government department, said he intends to enroll in another course taught by Schall when he returns from his illness. He said Schall’s Elements of Political Theory class stood out from all other courses he had taken at Georgetown.

“He changed the way I thought about ideas and how we should be taught. . Schall is an incredible teacher,” Shashlo said. “He loves teaching.”

“Schall will certainly be missed in the classroom. I think Georgetown is a much better place with him here to inspire,” Shashlo said.

George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., published a tribute to Schall in First Things, a journal published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life.

“Schall has taken this with his customary faith, good humor and sang-froid,” he wrote. “He is a marvelous teacher and a great spiritual director.”

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