The 1972 Awardees

Thomas D. Begley
(1904-1991)

LLB 1927
Moorestown, NJ

Thomas Begley, a New Jersey attorney and regional alumni leader, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on October 21, 1972.

Begley enrolled at Georgetown following his undergraduate studies at St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia. He practiced law in southern New Jersey for nearly 60 years, eventually forming a law firm that later included his son Thomas Jr. (C'59, L'62) and grandson Thomas III (C'84, L'90).

An active member of civic and community groups, Begley served on the Board of Governors of the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 1958-1961 and the Annual Fund Council in 1964-65.

Thomas Begley died in 1991 at the age of 87.

Margaret Beattie Clemence
(1916-1995)

Nursing Diploma, 1937
Bethesda, MD

Margaret Clemence, a Washington based registered nurse and alumni leader, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on October 21, 1972.

Born in Saranac Lake NY in 1917, Clemence earned her R.N. though the University's nursing diploma program. She was a registered nurse for nearly 50 years, with three decades of service in the Washington DC area. She was selected as a delegate to the 1965 International Congress of Nurses.

Clemence served as vice president of the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 1969 to 1971. She died in 1995 at the age of 78.

Hon. Luke C. Moore
(1924-1994)

LLB 1954
Washington, DC

Judge Luke Moore, an associate judge on the D.C. Superior Court, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on October 21, 1972.

Born in 1924, Moore attended LeMoyne College in Memphis before serving with distinction in World War II with the 92nd Infantry Division, an all-black division that saw combat in the Italian campaign of 1944-1945. Following the war, he finished his studied by graduating with honors from Howard University in 1949, and accepted an invitation to join Georgetown's first integrated law school class.

With job opportunities severely limited in segregated Washington, Moore studied law by day and worked by night for the Railway Mail Service, sorting mail transported by train. Following graduation in 1954, he worked for the law firm of Cobb, Howard & Hayes and in 1962, was named by President Kennedy to serve as chief U.S. Marshal for the city of Washington, D.C., the first African-American to hold this post since Frederick Douglass.

In 1972, Moore was named to the D.C. Superior Court, serving 15 years and assuming senior status in 1987. He died in 1994 at the age of 70.

The Washington Post reported nearly 1,000 mourners filled the National Cathedral to pay their respects. Chief Judge of the Superior Court Eugene Hamilton told the audience: "Who could complain if Judge Moore had been left by years of segregation with some scars on his personality or some flaws in his character or some baggage of prejudice or a bias in his judgment or heart? But Luke had none of these. By some miracle and strength of character, Luke rose above the natural consequences of his environment to soar like an eagle to the height of being a person who truly bore no malice or prejudice or bias toward anyone and, instead, truly cared for and about the welfare of everyone that he came in contact with."

Dr. John C. Rose
(1924-2013)

MD 1950, Honorary degree 1973
Chevy Chase, MD

Dr. John Rose, the former dean and vice chancellor of Georgetown University School of Medicine, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on October 21, 1972.

Born in 1924, Rose had just entered Fordham University to study biology at the onset of World War II. He entered military service and was a navigator on B-24 missions in the Italian Alps. For his bravery, he was awarded the Air Medal and the Croix de Guerre by French general Charles deGaulle. Following his service, he completed his studies at Fordham and enrolled at Georgetown, earning his MD in 1950.

Dr. Rose took a teaching position at the school and was named chairman of the Department of Physiology at the age of 34. Four years later, he was named the youngest dean of the medical school, serving from 1962 to 1972 and again from 1978-1979.

"There have been gigantic people at Georgetown, and John Rose is one of them," said former dean Dr. Milton Corn. "I think he was the single biggest architect of the modern Georgetown School of Medicine."

"Dean Rose led the institution for 10 years, through its greatest period of expansion, solidifying its reputation as an internationally recognized academic medical center," read his 2013 obituary. "The school budget tripled, the student body doubled, the faculty increased from 200 to 300 and a massive building program was completed."

"A pioneer in the field of interventional cardiology, Rose performed the first cardiac catheterizations at Georgetown, later establishing a cardiac catheterization lab for patient care. His research helped establish the subsequent adoption of this diagnostic procedure in clinical practice."

Dr. Rose retired from teaching in 1991 but continued to be a part of the medical community at Georgetown until his death in 2013 at the age of 89. The John C. Rose Learning Society and John C. Rose Awards are named in his honor.

James C. Shannon, Jr.
(1927-2018)

AB 1950
Lowell, MA

James ("Jim") Shannon, a investment broker and former president of the Georgetown University Alumni Association, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on October 21, 1972.

The first second generation John Carroll award recipient, Shannon grew up in Bridgeport, CT, served in World War II, and received his degree from Georgetown in 1950. He settled in Lowell, MA and became a successful financial executive and community leader.

Shannon served as an alumni volunteer in Boston for many years. He served as president of the Georgetown Club of Boston, a term on the Alumni Association Board of Governors from 1964-1967, was its vice president from 1967-1970, and its president from 1970-1972. It was during this period that the GUAA increased participation in the Alumni Annual Fund, and Shannon set in motion many of the procedures that provided financial stability to the Association. Shannon also served as member of the Board of Regents and one term as chairman of the Georgetown University Board of Directors.

James Shannon died in 2018 at the age of 91.

Josef Solterer
(1896-1992)

MA 1929, PhD 1932
Washington, DC

Josef Solterer, a professor of economics at Georgetown University from 1932 through 1972, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on October 21, 1972.

Born in Vienna and trained at the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Naval Academy, Solterer was a one of the original pilots for the Austrian air forces in World War I. Shot down in Italy in 1917, he was a prisoner for the remainder of the war.

He emigrated to the United States in the early 1920s and settled in Hattiesburg, MS, earning a bachelor's degree in 1926 from what is now the University of Southern Mississippi. He traveled north to Washington, earning master's and doctoral degrees from the University as a prelude to a forty year career in teaching. Named chairman of the Economics Department of her School of Foreign Service in 1939, he held the post for a quarter century.

According to his obituary, Dr. Solterer specialized in the economics of developing countries and served as a guest professor internationally.

Josef Solterer died in 1992 at the age of 95.