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About the Program

The Doyle Engaging Difference Program encourages Georgetown students and faculty to address cultural, religious, and other forms of difference through learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. 

This university-wide program supports curricular engagement with difference and diversity in introductory and upper-level courses through Doyle Faculty Fellowships and Doyle Seminars, respectively. Students studying internationally also have the opportunity to reflect on their encounters with diverse host societies as part of the Doyle Global Dialogue. Both students and faculty can also apply for Doyle Grants and participate in Doyle Events to further engage in critical dialogue on diversity in co-curricular spaces. 

The program began in fall 2009 with a generous gift and accompanying vision from William J. Doyle (C'72, chair of the Georgetown University Board of Directors) to see the university deepen its Catholic and Jesuit commitment to diversity and dialogue. Now in its second decade, the Doyle Program continues to foster space for critical discussion and debate on intercultural and interreligious difference, enabling Hoyas to become engaged global citizens in an increasingly pluralistic world.

About the Benefactor

William J. Doyle giving a speech

William J. Doyle is the former president and CEO of PotashCorp, which was the world’s largest fertilizer company until its purchase and merger in 2018. He served in that position from 1999 to 2014 and was a board member of the company since its IPO in 1989. All told, he spent 41 years in the agriculture industry. Since his retirement, he has been working with a private equity firm and sits on the boards of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and the Big Shoulders Fund. He is also a director of the Western Golf Association. Mr. Doyle is a 1972 graduate of Georgetown College and currently serves as chair of the Georgetown University Board of Directors.

Listen to Mr. Doyle speak about the program here.

Doyle Program Staff Contacts

The Doyle Program is jointly administered by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) at Georgetown University.