Professional Background
Since earning my doctorate from Fordham University in 1992, I have worked with increasing levels of responsibility, in teaching and administration. My fields of expertise include theology, pastoral and crisis counseling. I have special expertise
with international students.
My teaching experience includes undergraduate generalist courses, undergraduate major courses in theology, pastoral skills development for graduate ministry students, and doctoral courses in theology.
Personal Background
I grew up in the suburbs of New York City living the American dream. My mother emigrated from Ireland at 19, crossing the ocean and landing at Ellis Island, hoping to escape the poverty of her farm life. Marrying my father, no better off financially than she, but smart and hardworking, they built a middle class lifestyle for my brother and me. We lived in a neighborhood of easy relations between Catholics, Protestants and Jews. I was well aware of the horrors of the Holocaust from an early age and made a personal pilgrimage to Dachau as a young adult. I have prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. In the first class of women students at the University of Notre Dame, I received a first-rate education, formation in values and Christian mission, and the bitter taste of rejection by young men unwilling to share the university with us.
Inspiration
There's my father sitting at his desk, writing speeches for local politicians. My love of writing comes from him.