Jeanne Ruesch (Parent’02,’09) is a public servant and entrepreneur who currently serves as chair of the Ruesch Family Foundation, a charitable entity focusing on medical research, education, and the arts. The foundation was established in 2004 with her late husband, Otto Ruesch.

In 2009, she established the Ruesch Center for the Cure of GI Cancers at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in her husband’s name. In 2010, she worked with the Dean of the School of Foreign Service to establish the Institute on Women, Peace and Security. She and her husband previously endowed the Distinguished Jesuit Scholar Professorship in the College of Arts & Sciences. 

Ruesch is in her fourth term on the Georgetown Board of Directors, chairing the medical center committee and serving as vice chair of the search committee for Georgetown’s new president.  

Her involvement with Georgetown began in the late 1990s through her work with the Jesuits.  She and her husband were designated as Founders of the Jesuits for their service in leadership positions with organizations such as the Gonzaga College High School, The Washington Jesuit Academy, the Woodstock Theological Center, Catholic Charities, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Jesuit International Volunteers, and the Ignatian Lay Volunteer Corps. She has also served on boards of The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art, MedStar Georgetown, the Kennedy Center, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Arc Foundation, among others.

Ruesch has two sons and three grandchildren.