Dr. Timothy T. O’Donnell
Professor and President Emeritus, Christendom College (1992-2024)
The Cardinal Newman Society gratefully presents the Saint John Henry Newman Award to Dr. Timothy T. O’Donnell, the third and longest-serving president of Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., from 1992 to 2024. From a mustard seed faithfully planted by founder Dr. Warren Carroll, Dr. O’Donnell nurtured and expanded Christendom College into one of the Church’s most important institutions, having worldwide influence in reforming the study of history and theology and in the formation of young men and women for Christ. On behalf of Catholic families delighted by Dr. O’Donnell’s teaching, speaking, writing, and leadership, we recognize Dr. Timothy O’Donnell for his devotion to faithful education and uphold him and Christendom College as models of faithful Newman Guide Recommended education.
Under Dr. O’Donnell’s leadership, undergraduate student enrollment at Christendom College increased from 144 to nearly 550. The College also merged with the Notre Dame Institute to form the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, and it initiated two international study abroad opportunities in Rome and Ireland. The campus was greatly expanded with the magnificent Christ the King Chapel, St. John the Evangelist Library, St. Louis the Crusader Gymnasium, St. Lawrence Commons, and several residence halls. The alumni base grew to nearly 4,000, including 166 alumni priests and religious. The college’s endowment grew from $200,000 to more than $28 million, even while the College has courageously declined government funding to avoid threats to its religious freedom.
Even before his 32 years as president, Dr. O’Donnell taught history and theology at Christendom College for seven years and served as the vice president of student affairs, chairman of the Theology Department, editor of the Faith & Reason journal, director of student activities, and dean of the Summer Apologetics Institute. He previously taught at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif., and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He was the first layman to receive a doctorate in ascetical and mystical theology from the Angelicum, the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He is the author of Swords Around the Cross: The Nine Years War: Ireland’s Defense of Faith and Fatherland (Christendom Press, 2001) and Heart of the Redeemer: An Apologia for the Contemporary and Perennial Value of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Ignatius Press, 2nd ed., 2017).
Today Dr. O’Donnell remains on the Christendom College board of directors and faculty, teaching theology and history. He is a consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Family, to which he was appointed 2004 by Pope St. John Paul II, renewed in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, and renewed in 2013 by Pope Francis. Dr. O’Donnell has served on the advisory boards of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Institute of Catholic Culture, Institute on Religious Life, and The Cardinal Newman Society. He is a Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Dr. O’Donnell’s awards include the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Pope Leo XIV, the Bowie Kuhn Special Award for Evangelization from Legatus, the St. John Bosco Award for Catholic Education from Angelus Academy, the Distinguished Service Award from the Brent Society of the Diocese of Arlington, and the Christ the King Award from The Christian Law Institute. The Irish Education 100 named him one of the top 100 educators in the United States.
Dr. O’Donnell and his wife, Cathy, have nine children.
