LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) - The Rev. John Lo Schiavo, former president of the University of San Francisco who presided over the university's resurgence and a shutdown of its basketball program, died Friday. He was 90.
USF says Lo Schiavo died peacefully in the infirmary at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos.
A San Francisco native, Lo Schiavo was born in 1925 to Italian immigrants.
His 65-year association with USF began in 1950, when he became an instructor of philosophy. He began a 14-year presidency in 1977.
One of his main achievements was getting the university out of debt and significantly growing its endowment from $4.6 million in 1976 to $38.7 million in 1991.
His presidency was not without controversy: In 1982 he shut down the university's highly successful Division I basketball program after numerous recruiting violations.