James Joseph O'Donnell is a classical scholar and the Provost of Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

. O'Donnell previously served as Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. He is a former President of the American Philological Association

American Philological Association

The American Philological Association , founded in 1869, is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization...

 and a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America.

O'Donnell writes and lectures on information technology in the modern academic and cultural world. He was an early adopter of the World Wide Web for academic collaboration within the humanities. He has been involved with Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Bryn Mawr Classical Review is an open access journal founded in 1990. It publishes reviews of current scholarly work in the field of classical studies including classical archaeology. This journal is the second oldest online humanities scholarly journal. It provides both online and print...

since it was founded in 1990.

Books

O'Donnell's books include more technical scholarly works on history and philosophy, with a special interest in Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...

, but he has also three books that are addressed to a general audience. Avatars of the Word (Harvard University Press: 1998) outlines the history of writing and media from ancient Greek times to the present, while Augustine: A New Biography (Harper Collins 2005) was widely reviewed (e.g., New Republic, Economist, New York Times). An account of the end of Roman grandeur, The Ruin of the Roman Empire (HarperCollins: 2008), has now appeared.

• The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History (2008) Ecco; ISBN 0060787376
• Augustine: A New Biography (2005) Ecco; ISBN 0060535377
• Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (1998) Harvard University Press; ISBN 0674055454
• Scholarly Journals at the Crossroads: A Subversive Proposal for Electronic Publishing (edited, with Ann Shumelda Okerson
  Ann Shumelda Okerson
  Ann Shumelda Okerson is an internationally distinguished librarian and expert on the place of new digital technologies in libraries. She serves as Senior Advisor on Electronic Strategies for the Center for Research Libraries...
  
  ) (1995) Association of Research Libraries; ISBN 0918006260

Esoterica

O'Donnell's website includes a biographical sketch of Doughbelly Price. Price was a cowboy turned real estate agent in Taos, New Mexico

Taos, New Mexico

Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...

. The biography includes a profile from Life magazine in 1949 and feature audio clips of old cowboy songs by Price.

The 2007 edition of the Edge - the third culture

Edge - the third culture

Edge is an online magazine exploring scientific and intellectual ideas published by the Edge Foundation.Scientists and others are invited to contribute their thoughts in a manner readily accessible to non-specialist readers...

 Annual Question O'Donnell offered positive words on humanity: "we turn out to be a stubbornly smart, resilient and persistent species, and we do not forget the most important things."

External links

• http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod - personal website
• "St. Augustine" Radio interview on Philosophy Talk
  Philosophy Talk
  Philosophy Talk is a talk radio program co-hosted by John Perry and Ken Taylor, who are professors at Stanford University. The show is also available as a podcast, available for purchase. The program deals both with fundamental problems of philosophy and with the works of famous philosophers,...