John Grady, Director of La Salle University’s Honors Program for Nearly Four Decades, Dies at 70

John “Jack” Grady, who had taught economics at La Salle since 1960 and directed its Honors Program for nearly four decades, died of lung cancer at his Philadelphia home on Sunday. He was 70. 

Former students and colleagues described Grady as being very dedicated and involved with his students.  

“He called students from home if he knew they had tried to get him at school,” said his wife, Helen Grady. 

She added, “He would call every scholarship student who had been accepted by La Salle, even if they had gotten scholarships from other institutions. Jack would call every student personally and have a conversation about their goals and so on and so forth.” 

“He was very ill, but in early May he met with every incoming freshman (to the Honors Program) to talk about their rosters,” Helen Grady said.  

La Salle University President Br. Michael J. McGinniss, F.S.C., said, “I have had the privilege of knowing Jack Grady since he became Director of the Honors Program at La Salle in 1969. For almost four decades, he was the heart and soul of this nationally recognized program, serving as a mentor, adviser, and friend to many of the best and brightest students who ever attended La Salle. His personal commitment to and influence on our students and La Salle has been incredible.”

A child of Irish immigrants, Grady grew up in the city’s Olney section and graduated from North Catholic High School in 1955 – one of 1,229 graduates, earning a distinction in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest high school graduating class at that time. In 2006, the high school honored Grady by inducting him into its Hall of Fame.  

Grady received a Ford Foundation Scholarship and earned a B.A. in economics at the University of Notre Dame. He then received a Woodrow Wilson Scholarship and studied economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, he earned a Master’s in economics at Temple University.  

In 1960, La Salle’s Economics Department chairman, Joseph Flubacher, Ed.D., also a North Catholic grad, offered Grady a temporary job teaching economics. Grady never left.  

“My father believed education was the way to advancement,” said his son John Grady Jr. “He said education was the best way to understand yourself, so that a person could maximize his gifts and talents.” 

“He was unbelievably curious and enthusiastic,” said his daughter Kelley Grady. “He really enjoyed helping students.” 

Grady and his family lived for many years in the city’s East Oak Lane section, not far from the La Salle campus. His wife said this was a conscious decision on her husband’s part: this enabled him to walk to campus on snowy days when it was impossible to drive.  

John Grady Jr. said that except for his time at Notre Dame, his father lived his whole life within a three-mile radius of the La Salle campus. 

In 1972, Grady received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, and for several years he was moderator of the University’s Debate Team, which in 1966 won the state championship.  

In 1969, he became Director of La Salle’s Honors Program, which has been recognized as one of the best in the country. He was well known for his work with the National Collegiate Honors Council as founding Chair of the Honors Assessment and Evaluation Committee. This organization publishes a journal and Grady’s daughter Kristine Grady Derewicz said the journal would dedicate its next issue to her father. 

“I was deeply impressed that he was always thinking about how to deliver the best possible education for the students in the Honors Program,” said Eugene Gallagher, a 1972 La Salle graduate and now a professor of religious studies at Connecticut College who was in the University’s Honors Program. “He wanted to give the students the best possible experience.” 

Dr. Gallagher added, “Even though I have no aptitude for economics, I loved the way he taught. From him I learned about teaching. He had a gift for relating economic theory in concrete examples, such as the price of pickled beets in the grocery store. That was his way: to make whatever he talked about seem meaningful.” 

In 2003, graduates from the Honors Program established a scholarship fund to honor Grady.   

John and Helen Grady were married for 45 years. In addition to John Jr., Kristine, Kelley and his wife, Grady is survived by another son, Brian Grady, another daughter Helene Grady, and 14 grandchildren.  

There will be two viewings: on Thursday, July 17, at 7 p.m. at the Geitner-Givnish Funeral Home, 5th Street and Chelten Ave., Philadelphia, and at La Salle University at the De La Salle Chapel, 1900 block of West Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, on Friday, July 18, at 9 a.m. There will be a mass at 11 a.m. at the chapel. Internment at Holy Sepulchre, Cheltenham Avenue and Easton Road, Cheltenham, Pa. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the John Grady Scholarship Fund, c/o La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19141