<< Back to La Salle Home Page La Salle University to Honor G. Dennis O’Brien,
Higher Education Scholar and University Trustee
with Honorary Degree at its Graduation Exercises
 G. Dennis O’Brien will receive an honorary degree from La Salle University at its Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2009. A former president at Bucknell University and the University of Rochester, Dr. O’Brien is a recognized scholar on higher education accreditation and on academe in general. He is a long-time member of La Salle’s Board of Trustees.
O’Brien is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in English in 1952. His teaching career began at the University of Chicago, where he received a Carnegie Research Fellowship in University Teaching in 1957. The following year, Dr. O’Brien joined the faculty at Princeton University. In 1961, he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago, was named an assistant professor of philosophy at Princeton, and took on additional responsibilities as Assistant Dean of the College there. From 1963 to 1965, Dr. O’Brien taught in the Honors Seminar at La Salle.
In 1965, Dr. O’Brien went to Middlebury College, where he spent the next 11 years, as an associate professor, and subsequently, professor of philosophy, then Dean of Men, Dean of the College, and Dean of the Faculty. While at Middlebury, he was named a Fellow in the American Council of Learned Societies. In 1976, Dr. O’Brien became the 12th President of Bucknell University, and he held that position for eight years, until being named the 8th President of the University of Rochester, where he served from 1984 to 1994, when he retired. During those three decades of academic leadership, Dr. O’Brien continued to teach philosophy.
University President Brother Michael J. McGinniss, Ph.D., F.S.C., said, “We are particularly grateful for Dr. O’Brien’s service on the Board of Trustees, where he has brought exceptional wisdom and a lively wit. Since 1969, he has been a valued advisor to five La Salle presidents.”
Dr. O’Brien is the author of several books and countless articles in professional and popular publications on a variety subjects, such as philosophy, religion, education, and modern art. His books include Hegel on Reason in History; God and the New Haven Railway; What to Expect from College; All the Essential Half-truths about Higher Education, The Idea of a Catholic University, and Finding the Voice of the Church.
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