At its commencement ceremony on May 17, Fordham University will award honorary doctorates of humane letters to two transformative Catholic higher education leaders: Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president emeritus of Fordham, and Donna Carroll, Ph.D., president emerita of Dominican University and president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU).
The commencement speaker, award-winning film and television actress and Fordham alumna Regina Hall, will receive an honorary doctorate of fine arts at the ceremony.
A Milestone Fordham Presidency
Commencement will be a homecoming for Father McShane, who served as the 32nd president of Fordham, from 2003 to 2022, and ushered in a new era for the University through his inspired leadership. He was a tireless ambassador for Jesuit education who boldly pursued his ambitions for Fordham while remaining personally humble and focused on students.
On his watch, Fordham’s endowment more than quadrupled, the number of endowed chairs more than tripled, the University established more than 400 new scholarship funds, and financial aid grew more than sixfold, to $300 million.
His legacy of new construction projects at the University is exemplified by the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center, which formally opened at the Rose Hill campus in early 2022, and by the new Fordham Law School building and residence hall—McKeon Hall—that opened in 2014 at the Lincoln Center campus. His presidency saw Fordham grow from a respected regional institution to a national university with a strong international reputation.
Father McShane served in leadership roles for 25 years at Fordham, including his 19 years as president and his previous six years as dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. He also served on the religious studies faculty at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York. Before being named president of Fordham, he spent five years as president of the University of Scranton, where today he serves as superior of the Scranton Jesuit Community. Father McShane has served on the boards of numerous civic and educational organizations and Jesuit universities.
A Trailblazing Leader of Dominican University
Carroll served for 27 years as the first lay president of Dominican University in Illinois, providing leadership that propelled dramatic change throughout the institution: a doubling of the full-time faculty, a four-fold increase in the operating budget, the expansion of schools and programs, and the creation of a state-of-the-art science building, among many other enhancements. Carroll also led the process of adopting the current name of the university, formerly called Rosary College.
Dominican achieved high rankings in U.S. News & World Report for social mobility as Carroll bolstered the university’s commitment to educating first-generation students. She is an outspoken, nationally recognized advocate for the rights of undocumented students and the cause of immigration reform.
Earlier in her career Carroll worked at Fordham, as secretary of the University, before going to Dominican as president in 1994; she was later a Fordham trustee, and today is a trustee fellow. In her current role as ACCU president, she is providing a voice for hope amid the uncertainties facing Catholic higher education.
