Dougherty, Engers Receive Service To Society Award
September 15, 2008
College of Notre Dame of Maryland Alumnae Association will present the Service to Society Award to Mary Ellen Dougherty, SSND, and Kathleen Marie Engers, SSND, at Reunion Weekend on Saturday, September 20.
Sister Mary Ellen is a member of the Leadership Council for the Atlantic Midwest province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Sister Kathleen Marie is a longtime professor of communication arts at College of Notre Dame and the founder of Pumpkin Theatre.
The Service to Society Award is presented annually to a graduate(s) who best exemplifies the ideals of a College of Notre Dame education through the application of her education, initiative and humanity to socially useful ends in the community, nation or world.
"Sister Mary Ellen is an international leader in the fight against human trafficking. Sister Kathleen Marie is the founder of a children’s theatre that has influenced thousands and thousands of young people over the years," said Lisa V. Byrd, director of alumnae relations. "With 2008 being the 175th anniversary of the founding of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, it's an honor to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of Sister Mary Ellen and Sister Kathleen Marie."
Prior to her election to the SSND Leadership Council earlier this year, Sister Mary Ellen was coordinator of education and outreach in the anti-human trafficking department for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In that role, she testified in 2004 about human trafficking at a hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights. She has also served as a faculty member and chair of the English Department at College of Notre Dame and as a college writing instructor in prison systems in Illinois and Maryland.
Sister Mary Ellen is an accomplished author and has been published in publications such as America, Commonweal and Southern Poetry Review. She received the Mullan Distinguished Teaching Award from College of Notre Dame; an award for best instructional program from Maryland Association of Higher Education; and an award for distinguished program from the Maryland Association of Continuing Education. Sister Mary Ellen holds a master's in English from Villanova, a master's in creative writing from The Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's in English from College of Notre Dame.
Prior to College of Notre Dame, she taught at Institute of Notre Dame and at Our Lady of Monadnock in New Hampshire. In 1967, she founded Pumpkin Theatre, a performing arts series for children, then located at College of Notre Dame. Sister Kathleen was involved in the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Summer Academy for the Arts and the Celebration of the Arts with Catholic school middle and high school students at the Meyerhoff. She has traveled extensively on theatre tours to numerous European countries. Sister Kathleen Marie holds a master's from Catholic University of America and a bachelor's from College of Notre Dame.
College of Notre Dame of Maryland is the first Catholic college for women in the United States to award the four-year baccalaureate degree. In addition to the Women's College for traditional-age students, College of Notre Dame offers a part-time Weekend College, Accelerated College and Graduate Studies. In fall 2009, the College will launch a School of Pharmacy, the first on the campus of a women's college in the United States.