of International Relations and Public Affairs in Shanghai, China, which developed into a more formal connection when Georgetown opened a liaison office at Fudan on January 12, 2008, to further collaboration.
John J. DeGioia, Georgetown's first lay president, led the school from 2001 to 2024. DeGioia continued its financial modernization and sought to "expand opportunities for intercultural and interreligious dialogue." DeGioia also founded the annual Building Bridges Seminar in 2001, which brings global religious leaders together, and is part of Georgetown's effort to promote religious pluralism. The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs began as an initiative in 2004, and after a grant from William R. Berkley, was launched as an independent organization in 2006.
=== Jesuit tradition ===
Georgetown University was founded by former Jesuits in the tradition of Ignatius of Loyola; it is a member of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Georgetown is not a pontifical university, …
