Sister Clare Fitzgerald is a native Bostonian and
the third eldest of an Irish family of six children.
She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the College of Notre Dame in Maryland, earned her Master's Degree at Catholic University in Wash-ington, DC, and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy by St. Louis University. In addition,
she has received honorary doctorates from Notre Dame College, Manchester New Hampshire, and the College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, Maryland.
Sister Clare has taught at all levels of education,
and served for nine years as Chair of the American Studies Department at Fairfield University, and for twelve years as the founding Director of the Catholic Leadership Program, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, at Boston College. Internationally, she had lectured and presented workshops on Catholic education and the future of religious life throughout the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, and England. Recent lecture engagements include St. Andrews’s College in Scotland and the University of Cambridge in England.
Sister Clare is member of the Atlantic-Midwest Province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and has distinguished herself by not only effective but also generous and outstanding service to communities of all faiths. She has served as the Representative to the Provincial and General Chapters of the SSND, as well as Provincial Leader of the Northeast Province. Her national leadership positions are numerous, and include President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and the Appointee to the Vatican Commission on the Study of Religious Life.
In 1986, 1992 and 1997, Sister Clare received the National Catholic Educational Association’s highest commendation for distinguished service to Catholic education and the Church. In 1994, she received the prestigious William H. Sadlier Dinger Award for distinguished contributions to Catholic education and leadership, and, in 1998, received the C. Albert Koop Award for her commitment for excellence and scholarship in the training of Catholic Education Leaders in the United States.
2006 Elizabeth Ann Seton Awards -
National Catholic Educational Association Awardees and Scholars
The 2006 class of St Elizabeth Ann Seton recipients and their Seton scholars
were honored Oct. 2 during a gala dinner and ceremony at the Ronald Reagan
International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.— Five St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Awards were presented to outstanding supporters of Catholic education during the National Catholic Educational Association’s (NCEA) 16th annual awards dinner and ceremony in Washington, D.C., Oct. 2. The following SSNDs attended the gala to celebrate with Clare: Mary Maher, Joan Doyle, Mary Ann Bazata, Francis Conway, Mary Fitzgerald, Jane Frances and Martha Geipe, Patricia McCarron, Anne McCarthy, Mary O’Connor, Eileen O’Dea and Sharon Slear.
The Seton award is NCEA's highest honor, given in recognition of significant philanthropic or leadership contributions to Catholic education. The award is named in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), who is regarded by many as the founder of the U.S. Catholic school network.
