Giving News, Transformative Opportunities

Timothy Shannon

 September 24, 2013
timothy shannon
(left to right): Bette Jacobs Endowed Professor Carole Roan Gresenz, PhD, Bette Jacobs (NHS dean from 1999 to 2010) and Tim Shannon (NHS’07).

Timothy Shannon (NHS’07) has combined his twin passions for investing and health care to help shape Georgetown’s future. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the School of Nursing & Health Studies, Shannon spearheaded a family gift to create the Bette Jacobs Endowed Professorship in the school’s Department of Health Systems Administration.

“Professors are the lifeblood of the Georgetown experience,” he said.

“My four years on the Hilltop provided a remarkable foundation of learning, both in the liberal arts and the highly specialized field of health care management and policy,” Shannon said. “I felt compelled to pay this life-changing gift forward to future generations of Hoyas.”

The professorship honors the exceptional work of Bette Jacobs, NHS dean from 1999 to 2010, and a current faculty member. During the 2012-2013 academic year, the school selected Carole Roan Gresenz, a prominent health economist, as the inaugural chairholder. Gresenz came to the university after a distinguished 20-year career with the RAND Corporation.

“Carole’s groundbreaking work at RAND made me highly confident in her ability to shape Georgetown’s response to the sweeping changes driven by health care reform in America,” said Shannon, who serves on the NHS Board of Advisors. “After our first face-to-face meeting, I knew that her contagious love for learning would inspire NHS students and the broader community.”

“The financial support of the professorship was critical in attracting me to Georgetown. The professorship provides me the flexibility I need to advance research on key health care policy issues and to help position the department and school to be on the forefront of health care issues,” Gresenz said. “I’ve been able, for example, to develop a new health policy seminar series that is a joint endeavor among Georgetown, two other local universities and RAND.” 

The professorship has also provided her the opportunity to take full advantage of speaking opportunities that raise the visibility of the Department of Health Systems Administration, NHS and Georgetown University Medical Center.

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