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Home / Washington Business - July/August 2005 / Profile: Father Robert Spitzer - President, Gonzaga University |
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Profile: Father Robert Spitzer - President, Gonzaga University |
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Written On: July/August 2005 |
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Written By: by Ron Dalby |
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Years ago, the young Robert Spitzer admits to having been a math and accounting nerd as a Gonzaga University undergraduate. Then two coeds of his acquaintance took a hand in his future. One urged him to attend a religious-based retreat sponsored by the university and the other pleaded with him to teach the catechism.
He allowed himself to be persuaded and, along the way, "I discovered that God and mathematics are not mutually exclusive," Spitzer said.
Now, when you point out to him that two young women showed him the path that led to a life of celibacy, Father Robert Spitzer throws back his head, laughs and says, "It just goes to prove that God has a sense of humor."
Today Father Spitzer describes himself as the president of a "Catholic, Jesuit, humanist institution." Breaking this down, it means he presides over a religious school dedicated to people and managed by the Catholic order known for its devotion to education.
Gonzaga Public Relations Director Dale Goodwin points out that Jesuits focus on two central themes: academics and mission orientation, with the latter also including service to others. In line with these themes, Goodwin then lists what he calls Father Spitzer’s five missions of the university: faith, leadership, service, ethics and justice.
All these tenets converge on and rather aptly sum up Father Spitzer. He is an academic of national repute, and he is fixated on his duty to the university, which is only eclipsed by his dedication to God and the Catholic Church. Then, too, he is the walking embodiment of his five themes.
"Those five areas, we really take them dead seriously," Spitzer said. "We are a faith-based ethics organization. We’re trying to build a culture here where people sort of think, 'I like this.'"
Spitzer believes as well that every human being has dignity and that, "...you cannot treat them like trash. We serve faith and we promote justice."
Depending on the question, Father Spitzer can answer as either a priest or an educator. He is, of course, both, and his best pronouncements reflect a seamless blending of the two. For example, "Education will always end up advancing the common good," and, "All [academic] disciplines lead to a greater awareness of God."
Father Spitzer probably best expresses the strength of his beliefs through his speeches and his writings. He is in demand all over the country as a speaker on ethics, and his greatest academic love is the study of philosophy.
“I never met a philosophy course I didn’t like,” Spitzer said. He has published several books on philosophy, and his office is as much a book-lined study as it is a place of business. Floor to ceiling bookshelves at either end of the narrow, wood-paneled room are filled with scholarly works. A small, circular table and four chairs for talking comfortably with guests occupy about half the narrow room. His desk is at the other end. It is not a lavish office. But it is a place to work and a place to think.
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