 Creeden was named president of Georgetown University in May 1918, succeeding Alphonsus J. Donlon.In 1918, with the Spanish flu making its way toward Washington, Creeden resurrected the St. Joseph's Lamp Association, which was responsible for keeping a lamp burning in front of a statue of St. Joseph in a garden between Gervase Hall, Mulledy Hall, and Old South.Creeden received Ferdinand Foch, the French marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies, on November 20, 1921, and presented him with an honorary Doctor of Civil and Canon Laws degree, as well as a golden sword on behalf of the American Jesuits.