Timothy Healy; Priest Was Head of New York Library

The Rev. Timothy Healy, a Jesuit priest who was president of the New York Public Library and a former president of Georgetown University, has died after collapsing at an airport. He was 69.

Nancy Donner, a spokesman for the library, said Thursday that Healy collapsed about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday after getting off a flight at the Newark, N.J., airport. He was taken to Elizabeth (N.J.) General Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Healy took over the stewardship of the New York Library, the nation’s second-largest after the Library of Congress, in February, 1989. He had been president of Georgetown in Washington, D.C., from 1976 to 1989.

At Georgetown, Healy had a reputation as a good teacher and an exceptional fund-raiser. The school’s endowment rose from $30 million to almost $250 million during his years there.

But he created controversy during his years at Georgetown over his refusal to recognize homosexual student groups. A court eventually ruled that the university might withhold recognition, but could not deny resources to such groups.

Asked if his role as a priest would interfere with that of a library administrator dedicated to serving all points of view, he responded: “No ecclesiastical authority has any power over me in the conduct of my business at the library.”

Before he was at Georgetown, the New York-born Healy was vice chancellor for academic affairs at the City University of New York from 1969 to 1976. He also taught at Fordham Prep and Fordham University.

Born in New York City on April 25, 1923, Healy earned multiple degrees from Woodstock College in Maryland, Fordham, and England’s Oxford University. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1953.