Leo Jeremiah O'Donovan III SJ (born 1934) is an American Catholic priest, Jesuit, and theologian who served as the president of Georgetown University from 1989 to 2001.

Born in New York City, he graduated from Georgetown, and while studying in France, decided to enter the Society of Jesus.

His tenure was not without controversy, as he was ordered by a Vatican ecclesiastical court to withdraw funding for a student abortion rights group.

He has remained active in national higher education organizations, and in 2016, became the director of mission for the Jesuit Refugee Service USA.

O'Donovan received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the University of Lyon in France, where he decided to enter the Society of Jesus in 1957.

[1] Following his ordination, he went to the University of Münster in West Germany, where he studied under the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner and received his Doctor of Theology degree in 1971.

[7] He took a leave of absence from Weston from 1985 to 1988, during which time he was the provincial assistant for formation for the Jesuit Maryland Province.

[10] O'Donovan devised a new master plan for the university's physical campus, which had undergone rapid and often haphazard growth during the previous two decades.

The plan called for all new buildings to be architecturally cohesive with that of the historic portion of campus and the surrounding Georgetown neighborhood.

[13] Having undergone unprecedented growth during the latter half of the 20th century, the university convened an exploration of its identity, particularly in regard to its Catholic and Jesuit nature.

[14] After several years, the task force resolved in 2000 that its Catholic and Jesuit heritage was core to the university's identity.

[18] After several years of increasing deficits, O'Donovan decided to sell a controlling interest in the Georgetown University Hospital to MedStar Health in 2000.

[20] One controversy that arose during O'Donovan's presidency concerned the funding and official recognition of an abortion rights student group.

This prompted strong condemnation from the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal James Hickey,[21] and a group of alumni, who brought a canon lawsuit against the university.

The university revoked the group's funding, and while it denied that its decision was due to the court order, a high-ranking Jesuit was soon sent to campus to ensure that O'Donovan complied with the ruling.

[22] O'Donovan also drew criticism for his decisions to allow speakers such as Larry Flynt on campus, and to permit the university to perform fetal tissue research.

O'Donovan has also served on the boards of the College of New Rochelle, Fidelis Health Care New York, Jesuit Volunteers International, and was chairman of the Corpus Christi School.

[25] O'Donovan has received the Knight Commanders Cross with star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award.