With Fr. Leahy stepping down in 2026, Trustees Executive Committee will start search for a new president this fall
BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
University President William P. Leahy, S.J., has announced that he will step down as president of Boston College in the summer of 2026, and that the search for his successor will begin this fall, led by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.
Fr. Leahy, the longest-serving president in University history, made the announcement at the June 7 board meeting, stating that he believed it was the appropriate time for the transition given Boston College’s
strong academic and financial condition, veteran senior leadership, institutional momentum, and the successful launch and progress of the Soaring Higher fundraising campaign.
“I am finishing my 28th year as president of Boston College, and I have been thinking a great deal about the University’s future, particularly the transition to a new president,” said Fr. Leahy. “Today, I want to inform all of you that I have decided to step down as president in summer of 2026, and the search for my successor will begin in fall 2024. For the next two years, I intend to keep working as always on advancing BC, especially through our fundraising campaign, Soaring Higher.”
Board of Trustees Chair John Fish said that he and the Executive Committee of the board fully support Fr. Leahy’s decision, and that the University intends to maintain its institutional stability, continuity, and momentum experienced under his
leadership.
“The Executive Committee is well positioned to lead the search on behalf of the Board of Trustees,” said Fish. “They come from varied backgrounds, have extensive board experience, and as committee chairs especially know and appreciate the views of their committee members.”
Fish said that while the Executive Committee will serve as the presidential search committee, the entire board will play a critical role in selecting the next president of Boston College, and that the search process will begin with board consultation at their next meeting in September. Following the meeting, the Executive Committee will consult with important constituent groups, including trustee associates, faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The consultation will also include Jesuits at Boston College, the USA East Jesuit provincial, and the assistant to the Superior General of the Society
Pine Manor Institute Enjoying a Productive Summer
At Last, Messina College Opens Its Doors
BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
A few nerves. A bit of anxiety. Some faint traces of trepidation. And a lot of excitement.
Pretty much a normal first few days at college for the 110 first-year students in the inaugural class of Boston College’s new Messina College.
Students and their parents arrived on
July 7 for Move In Day, which included an orientation program featuring remarks by Messina College Dean Erick Berrelleza, S.J., Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, and Office of Undergraduate Admission Senior Associate Director Steven Koo, who helped lead Messina recruitment efforts.
“The campus feels like a complete transformation has taken place,” said Fr.
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Exec. Director Lauds Success of Academy
The third cohort of The Academy, a cost-free, summer enrichment program for middle and high school students—a pillar within Boston College’s Pine Manor Institute (PMI) for Student Success—is now on campus. The 134 participants in the residential program, which runs from July 14–August 3, include a new group of 44 rising eighth graders, and returning groups of 57 ninth- and 46 10th-grade students who are at BC for one, two, and three weeks, respectively. Participants are from 52 partner schools, and represent a range of communities including Boston, Brighton, Brockton, Chelsea, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Lawrence, Mattapan, Shrewsbury, Springfield, Waltham, and Worcester.
The successful initiative—which has had an 89 percent retention rate since its launch in 2022—engages students in a dynamic program of enrichment activities and classes in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and language arts. Electives such as 3D printing, textile arts, photography, cellular agriculture, and digital storytelling also are offered, and older students participate in field trips, overnight adventures, and volunteer experiences. Evenings include family-style dinners, small-group reflection, and quiet time before a 10 p.m. curfew. Academy
programming is designed to instill core values: tenacity, courage, and confidence (grade eight); identity, harmony, and companionship (grade nine); compassion, service, and solidarity (grade 10).
[The Pine Manor Institute also operates Messina College, which welcomed its first cohort of students earlier this month. See separate story on page 1.]
With The Academy in full swing, Vice President and PMI Executive Director Joy Moore sat down with the Office of University Communications to provide
on page 5
3 New Irish Institute Head Mary C. Murphy is named director.
6 Climate Threat BC scientists are studying the impact of nitrous oxide.
12 BC Arts
New TV series draws on career of CSON’s Ann Burgess.
Messina College student Haybi Garcia Barrios had her family right behind her as she moved into her residence hall on July 7.
photo by frank curran
University President William P. Leahy, S.J., has led Boston College since July of 1996.
photo by gary wayne gilbert
Continued on page 5
Continued
Around Campus
Historian Richardson Among Four Feted by the Authors Guild Foundation
Professor of History Heather Cox Richardson drew praise from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns when he presented her with the Baldacci Award for Literary Activism at the recent 32nd annual Authors Guild Foundation Gala.
Burns, whose credits include “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and “Jazz,” lauded Richardson’s ability to make sense of the world, through “her clear-eyed prose, and the connections she makes with an abundance of skill and just the right word, providing reassurance through her writing—even when the news is devastating—because she has faith in her fellow Americans.”
Author of acclaimed history books—including her 2023 release, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America—and the popular daily newsletter “Letters from an American,” Richardson was one of four honorees recognized for outstanding contributions to the literary world at the May 30 event in New York City.
In her acceptance speech, Richardson emphasized the vital role of the Authors Guild in protecting writers’ ability to explore human nature freely. She also con-
BC
nected the guild’s advocacy to the importance of literacy in a democracy, quoting David Baldacci, for whom the award is named: “If you can’t read at a sufficient level, you can’t be an effective member of a democracy.”
A BC faculty member since 2011, she teaches courses that cover the whole sweep of American history, focusing on politics, economics, and ideology. She previously
Makes the Grade in Money
Money, the well-respected personal finance guide, awarded Boston College a five-star rating—the highest grade for American universities—in its “Best Colleges in America” list published earlier this summer.
BC was one of just 55 schools selected in the elite category, including all eight Ivy League universities; MIT; Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, and Stanford universities; and the universities of CaliforniaBerkeley, Chicago, Michigan, and Notre Dame. Georgetown was the only other Jesuit university to garner a top spot. [See money.com/best-colleges-in-america-2024]
Money’s analysis of the country’s top 745 four-year colleges (out of the more than 2,400 American public and private institutions of higher education) is based on graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid, and alumni salaries, among other factors. Star ratings, introduced in 2022, replaced longtime numerical rankings; a five-star evaluation is defined as “scoring exceptionally high on most of its metrics.”
According to the researchers, following the initial cut, the remaining top-tier universities were assessed based on 25 factors in three categories: quality of education (30
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Jack Dunn
SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Patricia Delaney
EDITOR Sean Smith
percent), affordability (40 percent), and outcomes (30 percent). Finally, they were clustered by one of seven possible ratings, ranging from two to five stars.
In its switch from the numerical to the star rating scheme, Money explained that the new system recognized that there are numerous ways for a school to provide value, and multiple “best colleges,” depending on a student’s goals and priorities. As an example, it cited that in 2022, the 34 colleges that earned a five-star rating included public universities, Ivy League schools, liberal arts colleges, a work college and a maritime academy, demonstrating that “alongside some of the world’s most prestigious universities, you’ll find schools where a wider variety of students can actually get in and afford to attend.”
Formerly a monthly magazine initially published by Time Inc., Money is a digital platform owned by the Money Group that provides consumers with up-to-date information, education, and tools to evaluate credit, loans, insurance, and investing, and individual and comparative product and service reviews of companies across those industries.
—Phil Gloudemans
CONTRIBUTING STAFF
Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward
Audrey Loyack
Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Caitlin Cunningham Lee Pellegrini
taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Democracy Awakening, Richardson’s seventh book, provides an accessible history that connects the past to our present challenges, and champions the urgent and continuous need for democracy.
Since Richardson began publishing “Letters from an American” in 2019, it has accrued more than one million subscribers, making her the most successful individual author of a paid publication on Substack, an online platform that allows writers to publish newsletters and establish a subscription-based audience.
With nearly 15,000 members, the Authors Guild, founded in 1912, is the nation’s oldest and largest professional organization for published writers. It advocates on behalf of working writers to protect free speech, freedom of expression, and authors’ copyrights; fights for fair contracts and authors’ ability to earn a livable wage; and provides a welcoming community for writers and translators of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism.
—Phil Gloudemans
Boston College hosted the ALS Association Ice Bucket CEO Soak on July 12, which included a special 10th anniversary commemoration of the Ice Bucket Challenge by members of the BC baseball team, and a keynote by Nancy Frates ’80 (right), whose late son Pete ’07—a national advocate in the fight against ALS who popularized the Ice Bucket Challenge—is the namesake for the BC baseball and softball facilities on Brighton Campus.
(L-R) Professor of History Heather Cox Richardson with other honorees at the Authors Guild Foundation Gala: Jesmyn Ward, Suzette Baker, and W. Paul Coates. photo by beowulf sheehan
photos by lee pellegrini
UCC’s Murphy Is New Head of BC Irish Institute
BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Mary C. Murphy, an expert on the complex relationship between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Europe, especially in the post-Brexit era, has been appointed as director of the Boston College Irish Institute.
The head of the University College Cork (UCC) Department of Government and Politics since January 2023, Murphy will formally begin her duties as Irish Institute director, and as a professor in BC’s Political Science Department, in August.
Murphy is co-author of A Troubled Constitutional Future: Northern Ireland After Brexit, which was selected for the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) Best Book Prize in 2023. UACES described A Troubled Constitutional Future as “an informative, well-researched book on the complexities of the UK-Irish relationship, the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland and its potential constitutional consequences... it weaves together insights from the different communities in and around Northern Ireland and highlights the challenges to be addressed.”
Her publications also include Europe and Northern Ireland’s Future: Negotiating Brexit’s Unique Case and Northern Ireland and the European Union: The Dynamics of a Changing Relationship.
“I feel very privileged to be joining the Boston College community and to be taking up the directorship of the Irish Institute,” said Murphy. “Boston College has long played a pivotal and valued role in supporting the economic, social, political, and cultural landscape of the island of Ireland. I look forward to building on that immense legacy over the years ahead and to positioning BC as a premier location for the study of Ireland in the United States.
“At a time of widespread political and economic upheaval, Boston College and the Irish Institute are committed to contributing positively to U.S.-Irish relations and to the future of both parts of the island of Ireland.”
—Mary C. Murphy
“I also welcome the opportunity for the Irish Institute to continue to encourage the consolidation of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, to support NorthSouth and British-Irish relations, and to help the island of Ireland to adjust and respond to the challenges it faces in the post-Brexit era. At a time of widespread political and economic upheaval, Boston College and the Irish Institute are committed to contributing positively to U.S.-Irish relations and to the future of both parts of the island of Ireland. I am hugely excited to be part of that endeavor.”
Murphy’s appointment represents a new beginning for the Irish Institute, launched in 1998 and widely praised
for offering programs and initiatives to promote reconciliation between Ireland and Northern Ireland through increased mutual understanding and cross-border partnerships. During the early 2010s, the institute broadened its geographical scope to include other regions—notably the Middle East and North Africa—and took a broader role within the University to aid international outreach. Under director Robert Mauro, it became the Global Leadership Institute (GLI), retaining elements of the Irish Institute model while undertaking ventures such as a leadership program for Kuwaiti youths and an initiative to assist in the professionalization of Mexico’s police force.
But Mauro, who died in the fall of 2022, retained the institute’s ties to, and interest in, Ireland in the midst of various political and economic changes, including Ireland’s emergence as a landing place for major technology firms and the advent of Brexit.
“Irish Studies is looking forward to working with Professor Mary C. Murphy and enhancing insights from political science in our interdisciplinary programming, alongside our long-standing strengths in the study of Irish history, culture, and literature,” said Sullivan Chair in Irish Studies Guy Beiner. “The Irish Institute will cultivate relations between Boston College and Irish political networks, liaising with the diplomatic missions from Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The institute also will develop the study of political science for a better understanding of the many dynamic changes on the island of Ireland and the significance of its relations with Britain, Europe, and the United States.”
Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley noted that former U.S. Senator George Mitchell—a key figure in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement—“has recognized
the critical work that the Irish Institute has done across three decades in helping further the peace process and in building meaningful ties in civil society across the island of Ireland.
“The appointment of Mary Murphy as the institute’s new director brings a worldclass scholar of comparative politics to Boston College, and one whose work explores the interplay of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and contemporary European institutions. I join colleagues in Irish Studies and Political Science in looking forward to welcoming Mary to campus, and to her leadership in developing new partnerships and programs that will deepen our understanding of a rapidly changing Irish political landscape.”
Murphy joined UCC in 2003 as a lecturer and became a senior lecturer in 2019, and has taught classes such as Politics of the European Union, Politics of Northern Ireland, Conflict and Confliction Resolution, and European Political System and Policies. Previously, she was a junior lecturer at the University of Limerick Department of Politics and Public Administration and a researcher at the Belfast-based Northern Ireland Centre in Europe.
Her funded research projects have included “Regionalising and Strengthening the EU Debate in Ireland,” “Between Two Unions: The Constitutional Future of the Islands After Brexit,” and “Teaching the Teachers: Strengthening the Study of the EU in Ireland.”
Murphy has shared her expertise with the media, including RTÉ national radio, the Irish Examiner and Evening Echo, and various academic and professional blogs.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Limerick, master’s and doctoral degress from Queen’s University Belfast, and a postgraduate diploma in teaching and learning from UCC.
Eagles Women’s Lacrosse Team Rules the Roost
The Boston College women’s lacrosse team won its second national title in four years on May 25, rallying from a 6-0 deficit to beat Northwestern 14-13 in a competitive championship game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.
It was the seventh consecutive championship game appearance for the Eagles, who finished the season 20-3. After winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and entering the NCAA Tournament as the second overall seed, BC defeated Princeton, Michigan, and Syracuse to reach the final, held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. The Eagles are now one of eight schools with multiple lacrosse championships.
Kayla Martello ’24, who scored five goals in the championship game, was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
“I’m so proud of our team and all the people that make something like this hap-
pen,” said head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein, who has been at the Heights for 12 seasons. “This sport has come a long way from when I started, and we have so much support from our administration and from our community and from our schools, and we’ve just come a long way.”
The team’s historic season also culminated in accolades for a number of BC players. Seven were named Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association AllAmericans: Belle Smith ’24, Sydney Scales ’24, Rachel Clark ’25, Shea Dolce ’26, graduate student Cassidy Weeks, Emma LoPinto ’25, and Mckenna Davis ’25; Scales also earned IWLCA Defender of the Year honors, while Davis and Weeks were invited to a training camp for the United States Sixes Team. Dolce and LoPinto joined Shea Baker ’26 and Lydia Colasante ’27 at the U.S. Women’s Under-20 Training Camp.
—Boston College Athletics
The Boston College women’s lacrosse team celebrated its 14-13 victory over Northwestern in the NCAA Championship game, played in Cary, NC. This is the Eagles’ second national title in four years.
Messina College Welcomes Its First Cohort
Continued from page 1
Berrelleza, about a week before students arrived, as crews painted, cleaned, and landscaped the renovated student center and dining room—just one of many projects coming to a close on the former Pine Manor College campus.
“After so many conversations about creating a space that is inviting for our students, over time, seeing that actual transformation now has been a really fun part of my job,” Fr. Berrelleza said.
Messina College is part of the University’s $100 million Pine Manor Institute for Student Success initiative to enhance educational opportunity for underrepresented, first-generation students, and marks the first time BC will offer an associate’s degree. In all, Messina will enroll approximately 200 students who will live in dormitories on the campus.
Aligned with BC’s Core Curriculum, Messina offers the majors of applied data science, applied psychology and human development, general business, and health sciences. With their degree, students can apply to earn their bachelor’s degrees at BC or other four-year colleges and universities; or go on to other programs focused on specialized skills, careers, or public service.
The inaugural class, drawn largely from Boston, other gateway cities in Massachusetts, as well as from some additional states across the country, will spend the next few weeks engaged in the First Year Discovery Seminar, a focal point of other University programs to prepare students for the workload, challenges, and conversations they will encounter.
“We are working with partners across the University so the seminar builds that bridge that helps these students transition to Boston College and get acclimated to this space,” Fr. Berrelleza said. “We will have them involved and engaged in their formation from social, spiritual, and physical standpoints—who they are as people— in addition to their growth academically and intellectually.”
“Like a door opening”
For many students, the idea of attending Messina College wasn’t on their radar
materials.
screens a year ago. But throughout last fall, BC admission staff began getting the word out to high school guidance counselors.
Ana Sampaio of Framingham is a health sciences major who plans to study nursing and work as a NICU nurse. She recalled when a guidance counselor at Keefe Regional Technical High School told her about BC’s new college.
“I was completely amazed,” said Sampaio, a native of Brazil. “I was like, ‘OK, I want to go there.’”
For someone who is always looking for new opportunities, Sampaio said Messina College was a perfect fit for her academic and career goals.
“I always try to stay a step ahead and look at every opportunity and go after them, so when I heard about Boston College opening Messina College, that was a big motivator for me,” said Sampaio, who is already a certified nursing assistant. “It was like a door opening.”
Patrick Elvariste of Roxbury, who graduated from Cathedral High School in Boston’s South End, is studying data science. He learned of Messina when Dean for Un-
dergraduate Admission and Financial Aid
Grant Gosselin met with students.
“I couldn’t believe it. I have always dreamt of going to Boston College,” said Elvariste. “I’m looking forward to classes. I want to see what to expect and what the homework will look like. I want to stay focused. I feel like you experience every emotion getting started. What I’m feeling the most right now is excitement.”
Jiewen Zhang of Newton is majoring in general business to build on what she has learned working at her parents’ food wholesale business, where she often serves as their translator.
“When I am working with my father, I see the outside world I did not see while I was in high school,” said Zhang, a native of China who graduated from Newton South High School. “Helping him work out customer issues is hard, but it has given me the chance to learn more about business.”
“I want to be a positive force” While simmering humidity greeted the new students, the weather could not
dampen the excitement.
“I am looking forward to college life,” said Zhang. “It looks very freeing even though we will be spending a lot of time studying. I am looking forward to the dorms. I have never lived away from my home and family. I look forward to getting to know the other people in our class.”
Rochelli Silverio of Lawrence, who is studying general business, said she appreciates that the program was designed for students like her.
“I have always heard about BC. A lot of my teachers went to BC,” she said. “When I heard about Messina College, it was great that it was part of BC, but also for people like me who are first generation, immigrants, people who might be defined as ‘other,’” said Silverio, who is from the Dominican Republic.
One of six children, Silverio said she’s looking forward to “having my own place to study, all the support they have for us here, and working hard, like my mother, who works so hard for our family.”
Excitement was running high among faculty as well.
Associate Professor of the Practice of English Amy Alvarez came from West Virginia University. Earlier in her career, she was a teacher for eight years at Boston’s Day and Evening Academy, part of the Boston Public Schools.
“I saw this position as an opportunity to use my skills as a public school teacher and university professor to serve a group of students I have worked with throughout my career,” said Alvarez, who recently published her first volume of poetry. “At West Virginia University, I worked with first-generation college students. In Boston, I worked primarily with students of color. This job is at the center of everything that is important to me as an educator.”
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Biology Antonio Serrato-Capuchina, formerly of Boston University, earned a doctorate in genetics from the University of North Carolina and did postdoctoral work at Harvard University. A native of Mexico who was 12 when his family moved to the U.S., Serrato-Capuchina said he’s excited to support students and hopes to give them the tools that will make their own educational journeys less of an uphill battle than his.
As the first in his family to go to college, he had to overcome not only financial hardship, but also a lack of experience and institutional knowledge about how higher education works. He saw the position at Messina as the perfect combination of teaching and outreach.
“I have constantly been involved in educational outreach,” said Serrato-Capuchina. “My mentality is shaped by my own academic path, which was way harder than it should have been. But I have always been a go-getter and I hope to share what I’ve learned with our students. I want to be a positive force and uplift our students and their communities.”
For more on Messina College, see bc.edu/ messina
Freshly moved into his residence hall on Brookline Campus, Armand Paul paused to look over Messina College
(Left) Messina College Dean Erick Berrelleza, S.J., and Baldwin welcomed Messina students as the college officially opened on July 7. (Above) Director of University Counseling Craig Burns introduced himself—and the programs and resources his office provides—at an orientation session.
photo by frank curran
photos by frank curran and lee pellegrini
Positive Results at The Academy
Continued from page 1 insights on its goals for participants, robust programming, the team which facilitates their achievement, ongoing support during the academic year, including personalized coaching, tutoring, and mentorship, as well as future plans for The Academy.
How do The Academy’s curricula and enrichment courses enhance this summer learning experience and underscore its core values to facilitate participants’ development?
Throughout The Academy’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), we preview academic content, facilitate skill-building, promote our core values, and provide diverse learning opportunities. The academic and enrichment programs have been designed in alignment with the Massachusetts curriculum standards for each grade level, while offering collaborative and projectbased learning experiences to put our core values into practice at their respective levels.
For example, Decoding Shakespeare has eighth graders examining a Shakespeare play, connecting themes to their current experiences, and culminates with the students attending a Commonwealth Shakespeare Company performance on Boston Common (with front row seats courtesy of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). Through Community Awareness and Advocacy classes, rising 10th graders will experience courses and projects aimed at cultivating a deeper understanding of their personal relationships and contributions to their communities. Cultural Literacy and Exploration offers a rich array of arts, including photography, West African drumming, and culinary arts, which provides rising ninth-grade students with opportunities to learn through different mediums and modalities.
Beginning this summer, our rising 10th graders are eligible to work. Therefore, to offset any loss of summer employment income, we will provide a monetary stipend to our students after completing the threeweek program.
What qualities do PMI staff members and summer instructors contribute to ensure that Academy participants take full advantage of the summer session,
fostering its success and enriching the students’ experiences?
The Academy staff is committed to accompanying young people as they grow into who they will be in the world. From our BC undergraduate Success Coaches to full-time professional staff, PMI offers students a place to grow, explore unfamiliar surroundings, learn from their mistakes, forge meaningful relationships, and expand their world view.
Summer instructors include BC professors and graduate students, teachers from Academy students’ schools, and others recommended by BC’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development faculty. Academy SEP instructors are selected for their content expertise, diversity, student-centered pedagogical practices, and ability to build positive relationships with students, based upon high expectations and belief in student capacity. Instructors receive orientation and engage in professional development around community building and academic support for students.
What are the strengths of The Academy students in this cohort? What do you hope they take away from their campus experience this summer and carry into the upcoming school year?
Academy participants are nominated in seventh grade—as students of promise, a desire to learn and grow, aspirations for college and career, and kindness towards others—by the leadership and faculty at their schools. Each student admitted through the first three cohorts has been engaged, thoughtful, and truly excited to be learn-
Search for New President to Begin
Continued from page 1
of Jesus for North America.
“To fulfill our responsibilities as trustees, the Executive Committee believes that we need to do all we can to identify, recruit, and name a qualified Jesuit as BC’s next president, one who will advance the University’s distinctive mission and heritage,” said Fish.
Fish said the Executive Committee anticipates having candidates identified and interviews conducted in early 2025, and that it hopes to present its recommendation to the Board of Trustees for approval at its March meeting.
“Fr. Leahy’s presidency has been trans-
ing and collaborating with each other, and with BC students, faculty, and staff. Our Academy students are risk-takers—willing to hike in the Blue Hills (many for the first time), learn about cellular agriculture, or how to play the Malian drums—and are extremely supportive of each other. They live in and represent a variety of historically hardworking communities, and come from public, charter, parochial, and nativity schools across Massachusetts.
We hope Academy students will leave campus with greater academic skills (mathematical reasoning, ability to communicate verbally and in writing, reading comprehension, and the scientific method) as well as a deepened sense of commitment to continued learning and a sense of true belonging in all educational spaces. We also hope our students will carry a greater understanding of Jesuit ideals such as cura personalis, being men or women for others, composing a values-aligned life, and practicing gratitude and discernment.
Finally, we hope our students leave better prepared to navigate modern life, with increased financial literacy, communication, and career skills (collaboration, networking, interviewing, resume building) and a greater sense of their own possibilities.
In what ways do you anticipate that the inaugural Messina College class will inspire and motivate students in The Academy?
The Messina students—a majority of whom live in the same neighborhoods— will be instant role models for The Academy students. These connections will help to build and strengthen the students’ bonds with one another while inspiring Academy students to follow in the footsteps of Messina students. We aim to create an aspirational environment that will motivate and inspire our Messina and Academy students to build their pathways to success.
The Success Coaches are BC undergraduates who work with Academy students throughout the school year. How do they also serve as important role models?
Success Coaches are committed to a year-long mentor relationship. From October to April, they meet weekly with their mentees to offer support, tutoring, goal
setting, and social-emotional guidance. The Success Coaches, chosen through an application and interview process, represent all of Boston College’s schools and an array of interests, ethnicities, and backgrounds. During the academic year, Success Coaches are enrolled each semester in a one-credit course: Cross Currents: Thinking About Student Success meets weekly to provide Success Coaches with tools to enhance their personal and academic growth, and model these skills for mentees.
For Academy middle and high school students, these matches provide proximity to postsecondary education and career education which allows them a natural pathway to learn about future academic and career possibilities through a current undergraduate student’s experiences. Success Coaches and Academy students learn from and with each other, and we look forward to the day when our first Academy graduates are able to have the opportunity to work as Success Coaches with Academy mentees of their own.
Looking ahead, what does the future hold for The Academy and its participants?
The Academy is eagerly counting down the days to our next big milestone—the inaugural Academy cohorts’ high school graduations in the spring of 2027. Between now and then, rising 11th- and 12th-grade Academy students will collaborate with staff and Success Coaches on postsecondary planning. The Academy celebrates that postsecondary journeys are as diverse as our students, and so looks forward to accompanying them through test preparation, a college road trip with Academy staff, local college visits and applications, technical or vocational preparation, and personal discernment and career reflection.
We are grateful to the donors who have been early champions of a vision that is now a thriving reality designed specifically for first-generation students, and students with high financial need in and around the surrounding neighborhoods of Boston College.
For more information about The Academy and PMI’s other components—Messina College, Mentoring & Tutoring, and Alumni Outreach—see bc.edu/pmi
formational for Boston College,” said Fish. “We look forward to his continued leadership during the next two years as we embark on the search for his successor.”
Fr. Leahy’s announcement prompted an outpouring of appreciation and best wishes from many in the Boston College community.
“We owe a great debt of gratitude to Father for all that he has done,” said Alumni Association President Wynndell Bishop ’00, M.B.A.’07 told The Boston Globe. “It has been his vision, and his work implementing that vision, that has made BC such a resounding success.”
PMI Executive Director Joy Moore
photo by lee pellegrini
In June, the University welcomed participants in the Options Through Education (OTE) Transitional Summer Program for incoming Boston College students who have demonstrated potential and leadership despite challenging educational and financial circumstances. Former OTE student Earl Edwards ’10, an assistant professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, greeted this year’s OTE cohort and family members. OTE is a program of the Pine Manor Institute
Student Success.
photo by frank curran
BC Climate Scientists Study Effects of Nitrous Oxide
BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
Emissions of nitrous oxide—a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide or methane—continued unabated between 1980 and 2020, a year when more than 10 million metric tons flowed into the atmosphere primarily through farming practices, according to a new report led in the United States by Boston College climate scientists.
Hanqin Tian, the director of the Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, co-led the study, completed by nearly 60 researchers around the world for the Global Carbon Project, which routinely assesses greenhouse gas emissions.
On Earth, excess nitrogen contributes to soil, water, and air pollution. Released into the atmosphere in the form of nitrous oxide, it depletes the ozone layer and exacerbates climate change.
Agricultural production accounted for 74 percent of human-driven nitrous oxide emissions in the 2010s—attributed primarily to the use of chemical fertilizers and animal waste on croplands—according to the report “Global Nitrous Oxide Budget 1980-2020,” published in the journal Earth System Science Data
Established in 2001, The Global Carbon Project analyzes the impact of human activity on greenhouse gas emissions and Earth systems, producing global budgets for the three dominant greenhouse gasses—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
In an era when greenhouse gas emissions must decline to reduce global warming, the study found that in 2020 and 2021 nitrous oxide spewed into the atmosphere at a faster rate than at any other time in history.
Agricultural emissions reached 8 million metric tons in 2020, a 67 percent increase from the 4.8 million metric tons released in 1980, according to the report, the most comprehensive study of global nitrous oxide emissions and sinks produced to date.
“Nitrous oxide emissions from human activities must decline in order to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius as established by the Paris Agreement,” said Tian, the report’s lead author, referring to the international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015. “Reducing nitrous oxide emissions is the only solution since at this point no technologies exist that can remove nitrous oxide from the atmosphere.”
The concentration of atmospheric nitrous oxide reached 336 parts per billion in 2022, a 25 percent increase over pre-industrial levels that far outpaces predictions previously developed by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said Tian, who worked with Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability Research Director Susan Pan and postdoctoral fellows Naiqing Pan and
“Reducing nitrous oxide emissions is the only solution since at this point no technologies exist that can remove nitrous oxide from the atmosphere.”
—Hanqin Tian
Yongfa You.
“This emission increase is taking place when global greenhouse gasses should be rapidly declining towards net zero emissions if we have any chances to avoid the worst effects of climate change,” said Tian.
The world’s farmers used 60 million metric tons of chemical nitrogen fertilizers in 1980. By 2020, the sector used 107 million metric tons. That same year, animal manure contributed 101 million metric tons for a combined 2020 usage of 208 million metric tons.
The unfettered increase in a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential approximately 300 times larger than carbon dioxide, presents dire consequences for the planet.
Drawing on millions of nitrous oxide measurements taken during the past four decades on land and in the atmosphere, freshwater systems, and the ocean, Tian said the researchers have generated the most comprehensive assessment of global nitrous oxide to date.
The researchers examined data collected around the world for all major economic activities that lead to nitrous oxide emissions and reported on 18 anthropogenic and natural sources and three absorbent
“sinks” of global nitrous oxide.
The top 10 nitrous oxide emissionproducing countries are: China, India, the U.S., Brazil, Russia, Pakistan, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Canada, the researchers found.
Some countries have reduced nitrous oxide emissions, according to the report. Emissions in China have slowed since the mid 2010s; as have emissions in Europe during the past few decades. In the U.S., agricultural emissions continue to creep up while industrial emissions have declined slightly, leaving overall emissions rather flat. Natural sources of nitrous oxide emissions from soil, fresh- and saltwater have remained stable.
Improved agricultural practices that limit the use of nitrogen fertilizers and animal waste can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Tian said there is a need for more frequent assessments so mitigation efforts can target high-emission regions and activities. An improved inventory of sources and sinks will be required if progress is going to be made toward the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
“While there have been some successful nitrogen reduction initiatives in different regions, we found an acceleration in the rate of nitrous oxide accumulation in the atmosphere in this decade,” said Global Carbon Project Executive Director Josep Canadell, a research scientist at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. “The growth rates of atmospheric nitrous oxide in 2020 and 2021 were higher than any previous observed year and more than 30 percent higher than the average rate of increase in the previous decade.”
For more on the Global Carbon Project, see globalcarbonproject.org
The “Global Nitrous Oxide Budget 19802020” report is available at essd.copernicus. org/articles/16/2543/2024
Hiring of Torres a Fresh Start for Swimming/Diving Team
Dara Torres, one of the most decorated Olympians in United States history, was named head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at Boston College in June.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dara Torres as our new head swimming and diving coach,” said William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Blake James. “From the moment we met with Dara, it was evident that she was exactly the fit we were looking for to begin a fresh, new chapter of Boston College swimming and diving. Her record as a world-class competitor is historic and her ability to clearly articulate her vision as a coach and leader will allow our studentathletes to develop and excel in and out of the pool.”
Torres’ appointment ushers in a new era for the swimming and diving program, which was suspended last fall by the University in light of a September 2023 hazing incident, recurring issues with the program, and a team culture conflicting with BC expectations of its student-athletes, according to James.
A six-time world record holder and 10time American record holder throughout her competitive career, Torres made five appearances in the Olympic Games from 1984 to 2008, garnering a total of 12 medals—four gold, four silver, and four bronze. Torres became the oldest swimmer to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team when she qualified for the 2008 Games at age 41.
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016 and the United States Olympic Committee’s Hall of Fame in 2019 for her achievements and contributions to athletics.
As a coach, Torres has helped coach and mentor swimmers of various ages and skill levels, while serving as an advocate in leadership roles for the sport.
“This is a full-circle moment for me,” said Torres, whose honors include an ESPY Award for Best Comeback and World Fair Play Award for best sportsmanship at the Olympics. “I’ve learned from great coaches at every point in my career. This opportunity to share what I’ve learned, in and out
of the pool, and pass along technique, confidence, and support as part of the Boston College Athletics Department is a dream. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together.”
Torres’ 2010 book Gold Medal Fit-
ness reached No. 1 on the New York Times best sellers list; her 2009 autobiography Age Is Just a Number was also a mainstay on the Times list. A fitness advocate, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, model, and mother, Torres is a regular contributor on CBS Sports’ “We Need to Talk,” the first-ever allfemale sports talk show that airs nationally, focusing on women’s perspective of sports. She also serves as an ambassador with the USA Swimming Foundation as well as the American chapter of Princess Charlene of Monaco’s Foundation, a global organization that strives to prevent drowning and to develop the education of children through the values of sport. Torres has participated in multiple Swim Across America events to benefit cancer research.
A 1990 graduate of the University of Florida, Torres was a 28-time All-American and was named the 1988 SEC Female Athlete of the Year.
—Boston College Athletics/University Communications
Dara Torres
photo by lee pellegrini
photo by lee pellegrini
BCSSW Family Program in Rwanda Enters New Phase
BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
A five-year, $2.9 million National Institute of Mental Health grant will enable Boston College School of Social Work researchers to test digital innovations in their ongoing work on a family home-visiting intervention that promotes early childhood development while reducing family violence.
With the funding, the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) will begin a new phase of scaling for Sugira Muryango (SM), or “Strengthen the Family,” which is being implemented in Rwanda.
Created as a response to intergenerational violence, which in Rwanda is linked to trauma and loss stemming from the 1994 genocide, the intervention is linked to the social protection system serving families in extreme poverty. SM, developed in collaboration with both national and local Rwandan government, the University of Rwanda, and local nonprofit FXB Rwanda, is delivered by child protection volunteers—overseen by the Rwandan National Child Development Agency—who engage in active coaching to build the skill of male and female caregivers in interaction with their young children, encourage learning through play, and ensure a safe and healthy environment.
Studies have shown that families receiving the intervention demonstrated improvement in parent-child relations, play, father engagement, health and hygiene practices, caregiver mental health, as well as reduced intimate partner violence and less harsh discipline of children.
Sugira Muryango reflects RPCA’s mission of drawing from longitudinal and observational research on factors shaping risk and resilience in children who face multiple forms of adversity—including war, societal conflict, and poverty—and applying the research to develop and scale evidence-based interventions that support child health, development, and family functioning. RPCA has conducted or partnered on projects in more than 20 countries, including the United States, Sierra Leone, Colombia, Northern Uganda, Russia, and the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, as well as Rwanda.
Having seen encouraging results from
Wirth Joins Advisory Committee for U.S. Trade Representative
Boston College Law Professor and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar David A. Wirth was recently appointed to the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC), which advises the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, a member of President Joseph Biden’s Cabinet.
The 18-member TEPAC provides general policy counsel to Tai—the nation’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy—on
terventionists, said RPCA Associate Director for Research Joshua Bogus. “These are not ‘professionals.’ Most have only a high school education. But they are identified by the community as people who are respected and listened to, and who can show empathy and understanding. Their mandate is to protect children and families, and they work with supervisors from the local government ensuring there is oversight of the program.
“What we have to do is ascertain the impact of the Dashboard-supported delivery of the intervention by comparing it with the standard delivery,” said Bogus. “Without the Dashboard, interventionists are using a paper manual, which they have to carry around for reference on family visits. Then they have to make a report to their supervisors, who enter the data, which government officials then have to examine.
SM, which so far has reached more than 10,000 of the most vulnerable households in Rwanda, RPCA and its collaborators now face the challenge of scaling up the intervention to aid more families. This step, say RPCA administrators, means developing and testing tools that the Rwandan government could use to ensure that SM continues to be delivered with quality.
A key element of SM that will be examined in the NIMH-funded study is a Digital Dashboard tool developed by the University of Rwanda and other partners to support scaling the intervention with quality. The Dashboard streamlines collection of data on the intervention, improves the visibility and searchability of implementation data, facilitates caregiver mental health and social services and follow-up, and serves as a training platform for interventionists. The NIMH grant will enable researchers to test whether the digital tool improves quality of program delivery as well as outcomes for families reached by the program.
“We are deeply honored to advance to this next stage in our long-term collaboration with the University of Rwanda and Rwandan National Child Development Agency to explore innovations for scaling home visiting to promote early childhood development and prevent violence,” said Salem Professor in Global Practice and RPCA
matters that have a significant environmental impact. Tai’s office is responsible for developing and coordinating U.S. international trade, commodity, and direct investment policy, and overseeing negotiations with other countries.
Wirth is one of just three academic representatives on the committee, and one of only two with an environmental law focus; other members represent environmental interest groups, agriculture, consumer groups, services, non-government
Director Theresa Betancourt, the project leader and a principal investigator. “The results of this research will have implications for efforts to scale evidence home visiting in this and many settings in the U.S. and abroad.”
Other principal investigators include BCSSW Associate Professor Praveen Kumar; Melissa McTernan, research statistics manager for BC Information Technology Services; Vincent Sezibera, director of the University of Rwanda Centre for Mental Health; and Chris Desmond, a University of KwaZulu-Natal economist specializing in health and social policy research.
SM is based on the Family Strengthening Intervention developed with support from a prior NIMH grant to serve families and children affected by HIV/AIDS. Among the core components of FSI are: building parenting skills and improving knowledge of child development to create a safe, stimulating, and nourishing environment for children with a focus on nutrition, health, and hygiene promotion; developing a “family narrative” to build hope and highlight sources of resilience for addressing challenges; and fostering skills in parental emotion regulation and alternatives to harsh punishment to reduce risks of family violence.
Vital to the success of SM are the in-
organizations, and those with expertise in trade and the environment.
Wirth, who teaches primarily in the field of public international law, is an expert in international environmental law, an area in which he has worked and practiced for more than two decades. Prior to his academic career, he was senior attorney at a nonprofit public interest law firm specializing in environmental issues. While there, he worked on a variety of international environmental issues, including environmental reform of World Bank and regional development banks, the greenhouse effect, Soviet and Eastern European environmental issues, stratospheric ozone depletion, and exports of hazardous substances.
Wirth has also been attorney-adviser for
“So, we want to see if this tool improves outcomes by ensuring a higher quality of care through greater fidelity to the intervention model, which should result in more competence and selfefficacy in using the model. If that is the case, then we can expect there will be improved family outcomes and a favorable return on investment in this program on a larger scale.
“Seeing the success of an intervention is very heartening, of course, and it’s natural to want to make it widely available. But to continue seeing the same great outcomes we’ve had to date, we need to ensure the program isn’t straining resources or that its quality isn’t being diluted. This grant will enable us to test tools that could be used by the Rwandan government to greatly scale Sugira Muryango nationwide with the best possible outcomes.”
For more on the Research Program on Children and Adversity, see www.bc.edu/rpca
Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State, where he had principal responsibility for all international environmental issues, including exports of hazardous substances and technologies, acid rain, and stratospheric ozone depletion. He has extensive experience in multilateral negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, and other international organizations.
—Phil Gloudemans
Community volunteers in Sugira Muryango (“Strengthen the Family”)—a family home-visiting intervention initiative being implemented in Rwanda by the Boston College School of Social Work’s Research Program on Children and Adversity—taking a wellness break during a recent training session. photo courtesy
RPCA Director Salem Prof. Theresa Betancourt photo by lee pellegrini
David Wirth
photo by suzanne camarata
PoliSci’s DiPasquale Is PBK Teaching Award Winner
BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Associate Professor of the Practice David DiPasquale, a member of the Political Science Department whose research and teaching examines the relationship between Islam and the West, is the winner of the 2024 Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award, presented by Boston College students in the prestigious honor society.
Each year, Phi Beta Kappa students submit nominations for outstanding teachers who have positively influenced their experiences at BC, either inside or outside the classroom. Faculty are selected for the award based on the cumulative nominations from students over multiple years.
DiPasquale, who earned a master’s degree in political science from BC in 1992 and has taught in the department since 2009, is associate director and director of graduate studies for the Islamic Civilization and Societies Program. He also directs the Political Science Department’s John Marshall Project—named for the 19thcentury United States Supreme Court chief justice who advocated for civic education of the young—which promotes a focused study of “the citizenship and statesmanship needed by a democratic and constitutional republic” through a variety of activities and resources, including the Undergraduate Marshall Fellows Program.
Being selected for the teaching award is “easily the highest honor I have ever received” since joining the department, said DiPasquale, and filled him with “heartfelt and sincere gratitude” toward the Phi Beta Kappa students who had nominated him.
“When I was invited to join the Political Science faculty, I was told that the depart-
ment and wider University took teaching very seriously indeed, and that BC students were properly focused on separating the wheat from the chaff,” said DiPasquale, who holds a doctorate from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. “As a result, I have said to my classes that there is an implicit contract by which we will abide if they choose to enroll in one of my courses: Namely, that I expect quite a bit from them, just as they should be rigorous in demanding as much from me. In such an atmosphere real learning can take place, and it’s been terribly heartening to witness how many times my classes have come together as one to embrace such a challenge.
“Instead of finding resistance to my inclass challenges,” he said, “I sensed from
the beginning of my career here a desire for more—an even unquenchable desire for greater and greater challenges.”
Students who nominated DiPasquale cited his care for students’ success and well-being as well as his efforts to make his classes engaging and intellectually challenging.
“His meticulous preparation for each class and his ability to incorporate each student into a critical reading of each text is remarkable and motivates his students to take seriously the work of his classes,” wrote one student nominator. “Professor DiPasquale brings a decorum to our work and makes us struggle with each text we treat, forcing us not to jump too quickly and to return to specific passages to lay the foundation of his lectures. Never have I seen students so flawlessly incorporated into a lecture, allowing us to toil and unearth each building block of the lectures foundation and helping us piece them together.”
Another student wrote: “He makes class discussions extremely interesting and manages to make classes of 35-plus students feel personal. His assignments are intellectually demanding, but he makes sure to recognize and reward hard work and dedication to difficult subjects.”
“Brilliant scholar and very kind pedagogue,” summed up another Phi Beta Kappa member.
The Architecture of Power, a class DiPasquale recently introduced, drew praise from a student who said DiPasquale had done “a tremendous amount of work” to make it appealing and interesting.
DiPasquale explained that the course arose from his interest in teaching the tradition of modern political philosophy
through the prism of the history of architecture and civic planning. At the same time, he wanted students to contemplate the importance of beauty in their lives and the need to “cultivate a sense of taste or discernment,” he said.
“I wanted to use the power of images in the classroom and adopt a variety of novel pedagogical techniques to remind students of the need to reflect on their everyday world and ask a few tough questions about it, such as: Is our modern world beautiful? Are we at home in it? Do we possess the vocabulary with which to discuss our response to it? So, we do field trips to Cambridge and the Frederick Law Olmsted home office in Brookline and I ask them to take pictures of, and discuss, parts of their own world. The world out there is more interesting than you think is a premise of the class.”
In fact, DiPasquale added, an important facet of the class is a consideration of the BC campus, specifically its Collegiate Gothic origins and various framings of its architectural future. Early on, he asked the students to ponder whether O’Neill Library was beautiful—perhaps even more so than Bapst Library. The resulting discussions were lively, even emotional, DiPasquale said, and for him indicated that students enjoy opportunities to reflect deeply and converse freely.
“The point of the course is not to tell students how to think but to give them the tools with which to think for themselves,” he said. “I say this about every course I teach, but this one is unique to the extent to which I ask them to reflect not just on the ideas but on the spaces—some mundane, others elevated—that surround them and which impact them in a more tangible way every waking moment of their lives.”
Simonelli Receives 2024 Community Service Award
BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
Connell School of Nursing faculty member M. Colleen Simonelli’s tireless efforts to help establish a new nursing school at St. John’s College, a Jesuit higher education institution in Belize, have earned her the 2024 Boston College Community Service Award.
Organized by the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, the annual award–presented at the end-ofacademic-year Recognition Reception and Dinner—honors the outstanding contributions of a Boston College employee whose actions exemplify the Jesuit spirit of service to others. Simonelli, a Connell School professor of the practice and associate dean for student services, was lauded for her years of leadership and dedication to nursing and steadfast commitment to the partnership between CSON and St. John’s.
Belize is a nation of 400,000 people, served by an estimated 1,200 nurses. Many residents live in remote, impoverished areas with little or no access to quality health care. St. John’s President Mirtha Peralta
reached out to Fr. Leahy and the Connell School for assistance in addressing the nursing shortage by helping to establish a nursing program at St. John’s.
Simonelli offered consultation and advice on what would be needed to get a program up and running. She and CSON colleague Donna Cullinan (a past Community Service Award winner who nominated Simonelli for this year’s award) became trusted advisors and enthusiastic partners, providing Peralta with critical guidance, as well instructional and logistical support.
Simonelli and Cullinan traveled to Belize in 2022 to assess nursing practices at area hospitals. They returned to Belize the following year, with BC nursing students, to analyze the existing pipeline for nurses and develop a list of supplies and equipment needed for the new school.
The new St. John’s College nursing school was launched last October, with an inaugural class of 63 students.
Simonelli spearheaded a plan for four nurses in Belize to pursue master’s degrees in nursing at BC. These nurses, who graduated in May, will be faculty instructors in
the new school. Simonelli has committed to providing them with support as they embark on their leadership and teaching positions.
“In accepting the call to action to help launch the nursing program, Colleen truly embodied the Jesuit mission of being men and women for others,” said Office of Governmental and Community Affairs Vice President Thomas Keady at the May 29 recognition ceremony. He added that Simonelli is a “consummate caring advocate for students, patients, and the nursing profession” and that the new nursing program “will have lasting benefits for St. John’s College and Belize.”
A maternal child health nurse for more than 30 years, Simonelli focuses her research primarily on optimizing health for women and their infants. She has taught childbearing theory and clinical courses; Comparative Health Care Systems; Global Health Care: Meeting Challenges and Making Connections; and Actualizing the Role of the Professional Nurse. She has been honored with awards from the Connell School, including the Excellence in Undergraduate Clinical Teaching Award and the Undergraduate Teaching and Mentorship Award.
A student who nominated David DiPasquale for the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award described him as a “brilliant scholar and very kind pedagogue.”
Connell School of Nursing faculty member
M. Colleen Simonelli helped establish a new nursing school at St. John’s College in Belize.
photo by lee pellegrini
Grant Will Support ILHPR Heirs’ Property Challenges
BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
Boston College Law School’s Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights (ILHPR) was recently awarded a $2 million grant from JPMorgan Chase as part of the firm’s commitment to tackle heirs’ property challenges across the country, through a combined expansion of philanthropic capital, business investments, and policy recommendations.
The BC Law program, founded and led by the school’s Robert Drinan, S.J., Professor Thomas W. Mitchell— a national heirs’ property expert and MacArthur Fellow—will produce research and policy recommendations to preserve and expand property rights for underserved communities. ILHPR will also engage in community outreach and train law students, which will enhance national awareness about heirs’ property challenges and solutions.
The award is one of eight philanthropic commitments totaling more than $9.6 million to organizations working to preserve homeownership opportunities in many cities and states across the country. The grantees, a combination of communitybased organizations, legal service providers and universities, as well as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), will focus on tackling heirs’ property
and appraisal bias issues. Both are major contributors to the loss of wealth in underserved communities and disproportionately impact Black, Latino, Hispanic, low-income and low-wealth families in both rural and urban communities.
This effort is part of JPMorgan Chase’s ongoing commitment to preserving generational wealth building opportunities through homeownership for underserved
BC STEM Educators Guide Project for Underserved Youth
BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
Two Boston College faculty members are heading up a project with a Bostonarea organization that will support the engagement of underserved youth and their families with emerging technologies and tools—an initiative recently awarded a three-year, $150,000 grant.
The Waltham-based Charles River Collaboratory, a new project of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, is a youth-led, equity-focused program guided by BC’s STEM educators from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development and the Engineering Department. Supported by the grant from the Cummings Foundation, the collaboratory will utilize a “near-peer” mentoring approach in which senior high school youth support their younger peers in transdisciplinary scientific investigations, using artificial intelligence technologies, 3D printing, laser engraving, and physical computing to address problems in the community. The program will be centered at the maker space located within the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation.
Co-leading the project are G. Michael Barnett, a professor in the Lynch School Teaching, Curriculum and Society department, who specializes in using innovative research projects to pique and sustain interest in STEM among college undergrad-
communities nationwide.
“The substantial grant JPMorgan Chase has made to help dramatically increase the research and policy development capacity of our Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights will significantly increase our ability to make a greater impact on addressing a range of housing and property matters disadvantaged communities experience, including a number of vexing heirs’ property matters,” said Mitchell, a featured speaker at its June 18 convening in Atlanta announcing the grant. “We truly appreciate JPMorgan Chase’s support and hope this grant represents the cornerstone of a lasting partnership.”
Heirs’ property, also known as a “tangled title,” often comes into being when a homeowner dies without a will or some other type of estate plan and their property is informally inherited by multiple descendants, regardless of whether they live on the property or have paid taxes. It also can come into existence when a property owner dies with a simple will that replicates what would occur if they died without some type of estate plan in place.
According to national estimates, the total assessed value of properties with a single-family home or some other type of structure located on them that are impacted by heirs’ issues is conservatively estimated to be over $32 billion across
44 states and the District of Columbia. A different study of rural land holdings has estimated that there is $443 billion worth of such properties in the United States. Whether a building is sited on them or not, heirs’ properties tend to be worth substantially less than they otherwise would if they didn’t possess many of the defects that heirs’ properties tend to have, including the fact that a large percentage of heirs’ property owners lack clear title to their properties.
Left unaddressed, heirs’ property creates unstable homeownership, making it difficult for residents to convey property to the next generation, access disaster assistance programs that help pay for home repairs, or access property tax relief programs, leaving people vulnerable to a range of potential repercussions, including foreclosure, tax sales, and being targeted by investors attempting to buy a home below market value.
The June 18 event, said Mitchell, “represented a seminal gathering as there were representatives from major corporations, local and federal government organizations, federal reserve and federal home loan banks, CDFIs, and nonprofit housing and community development organizations—all committed to addressing heirs’ property and appraisal bias issues in a real spirit of partnership and collaboration.”
uates and urban high school students; and Assistant Professor of Engineering Avneet Hira, the Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellow, who frequently partners with undergraduate and middle school students, their families, and community organizations to create technology-rich, inclusive spaces for supporting purpose and connection in engineering education.
Helen Z. Zhang, a senior research associate at the Lynch School, and a frequent collaborator on grant-funded STEM programs for low-income high school students, rounds out the BC team.
“We are grateful to codesign and work with the fantastic youth of the Waltham Public Schools as we jointly envision the future of the Charles River Collaboratory,” said Barnett. “We are particularly thankful for the support of the Lynch School and BC’s Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society for serving as a catalyzing spark to jumpstart the work.”
The Schiller Institute’s facilitating funding enabled the partnership to build the groundwork leading to the Cummings grant, noted Barnett.
“This work continues to realize the University’s mission to develop initiatives in service of the common good using the affordances of engineering and technology,” said Hira, who expressed appreciation for the community and on-campus partners who have championed this effort. “I’m excited about the youth-centered nature
of this program that challenges the sometimes- detrimental dynamics prevalent in technology-rich settings.”
“Greater Boston is fortunate to have a robust, dedicated, and highly capable nonprofit sector that supports and enhances the community in myriad ways,” said Cummings Foundation Executive Director and Trustee Joyce Vyriotes. “The entire Cummings organization is thankful for their daily work to help all our neighbors thrive.”
Cummings Foundation’s grant program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits based in and serving Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, plus six communities in Norfolk County. Through this placebased initiative, Cummings Properties, a Woburn-based commercial real estate firm,
aims to reinforce the areas where it owns and manages property through its foundation awards.
The Charles River Collaboratory was selected from a total of 715 applicants during a competitive review process.
“Cummings Foundation recognizes the role that museums can play in the larger educational ecosystem by serving as an active learning asset in the community that engages all residents in creative and innovative learning experiences,” said Bob Perry, the museum ’s executive director. “This grant creates a potentially transformative opportunity for the museum as we continue to grow and to expand our community outreach and engagement efforts in the City of Waltham and surrounding towns.”
Projects in progress at the Charles River Collaboratory in Waltham.
Drinan Professor of Law Thomas Mitchell
photo by caitlin cunningham
2024 Catholic Media Awards Recognize Boston College Authors
Boston College faculty members in the Clough School of Theology and Ministry and the Theology and Philosophy departments have been recognized by the Catholic Media Association, an organization of publishers and media professionals who serve the Catholic Church. The 2024 CMA Awards, which honor outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism and communications, were presented at the Catholic Media Conference in June.
Clough School Professor Hosffman Ospino and co-editor Timothy Matovina received a first-place Book Award for Young Latino Catholics: Stories of Faith (Paulist Press) in the category of Pastoral Ministry: Youth & Young Adult. In this volume, a diverse group of young Latina and Latino Catholics share their personal stories of how they integrate their faith into their lives, inviting other young adult Hispanic Catholics to do the same and aid those in pastoral ministry in their work with this group.
the recipient of several CMA honors. His Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings (Cycle B) took second-place honors in Scripture–Series and an honorable mention in Scripture–Popular Studies.
CSTM Student Earns Pair of Coveted Fellowships
Clough School of Theology and Ministry student Lauren Warner, who is pursuing a doctorate in theology and education and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology with a focus in systematic theology, is the recent recipient of two fellowships in support of her education.
Warner was one of only 16 student scholars selected for a Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) 2024 Doctoral Fellowship. She will receive a stipend of $30,000 to support her in completing her doctoral studies. Recipients of this fellowship are considered based on their outstanding potential to contribute to the field of theological scholarship and shape the future of the church and academy.
Founded in 1954, the FTE is a leadership incubator that inspires young people to make a difference through Christian communities, providing resources, events, networks, grants, and fellowships to cultivate tomorrow’s leaders, pastors, and theological educators.
Kreeft’s four-volume book set, Socrates’ Children: An Introduction to Philosophy from the 100 Greatest Philosophers (Word on Fire), earned two second-place Book Awards, in Theological and Philosophical Studies and in Design and Production. Socrates’ Children examines the big ideas of four major eras—ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary. Another organization, the Association of Catholic Publishers, gave Socrates’ Children third-place honors (General Interest) its 2024 Excellence in Publishing Awards
In addition to books, the CMA also announced awards in the fields of newspapers and magazines.
Kraft Family Professor Emeritus James Bernauer, S.J., was honored with a first-place Book Award for the book he edited, Auschwitz and Absolution: The Case of the Commandant and the Confessor (Orbis Books), recognized in the category of Sacraments. Auschwitz and Absolution provides a compelling account of a secret and sacramental meeting between Rudolf Höss, the Commandant for Auschwitz, and a Polish Jesuit priest. In addition, 17 Christian and Jewish scholars offer a critical challenge to, or celebration of, Christian notions of forgiveness.
Philosophy Professor Peter Kreeft was
Monan Professor of Theology Lisa Sowle Cahill and co-authors were recipients of a second-place award for “The Challenge of Peace: Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of the U.S. Bishops’ Peace Pastoral” (American Catholic Studies), in the category of Best Feature Article–Scholarly Magazines.
CSTM student Luis Donaldo González and his co-author won first place in Best Reporting of Social Justice Issues–Solidarity for their article “Mexico’s Sisters Accompany Youth Gang Members: ‘They Make Me Turn the Page,’” published by Global Sisters Report/National Catholic Reporter. They were previously honored by the Associated Church Press for the same article.
—University Communications
As part of the award, FTE Doctoral Fellows are invited to attend FTE’s 2024 Forum for Theological Educators, which offers opportunities for networking, professional growth, vocational exploration, and mentorship.
Warner has also received a 2024 Louisville Institute Doctoral Fellowship, a two-year grant to support philosophy or doctorate of theology students in their first or second year of a doctoral program to consider theological education as a vocation.
Funded by the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment, Louisville Institute supports those who lead and study North American religious institutions, practices, and movements, advancing scholarship to strengthen church, academy, and wider society. Louisville Institute Doctoral Fellows partake in the Vocation of the Theological Educator Initiative, joining a peer cohort of other fellows for three formational gatherings a year held at the institute in Louisville.
“I am so excited about the mentorship that these fellowships will provide,” said
Professor of Sociology Juliet Schor was named the 2024 Honorary Fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, an honor bestowed on select members who have distinguished themselves in their scholarly accomplishments, are held in the highest regard among their colleagues, and represent the mission of SASE in its truest version. Past SASE Honorary Fellows have included John Gardner, Robert Solow, Kathleen Thelen, and Lester Thurow.
Carroll School of Management Assistant Professor Vanessa Conzon was a co-winner of the 2024 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in WorkFamily Research. Conzon, a member of the Carroll School Management and Or-
“I hope to learn and grow while I consider my career options as a scholar in theology and education.”
—Lauren Warner
Warner. “Not only will I have opportunities for guidance as I navigate my program and research endeavors, but also the chance to network and meet others in my field. I hope to learn and grow while I consider my career options as a scholar in theology and education.”
A California native, Warner is a pastoral musician and educator whose research interests include sacred music, liturgy, ecclesiology, lay ecclesial ministry, and Catholic education. Her dissertation research considers the ways that African American spirituals can be engaged in religious education. On campus, she is a research assistant for LAMP (Living A Life of Meaning and Purpose), an interdisciplinary research project involving faculty from the Clough School, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and Boston College School of Social Work. Last year, she served as a graduate assistant in the University’s Office of Campus Ministry where she was an assistant music director for the Liturgical Arts Group.
—Kathleen Sullivan
ganization Department, was recognized for her article, “The equality paradox: Gender differences in how managers implement gender equality-related policies” in Administrative Science Quarterly. The Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award—named for the Harvard Business School economist regarded as an influential contributor to modern literature on work and family—was developed by the Boston College Center for Work and Family and the Center for Families at Purdue University to raise awareness of high-quality work-family research among the scholar, consultant, and practitioner communities. Kanter presented Conzon with the award at a ceremony held earlier this summer.
Nota Bene
photo by lee pellegrini
Participants were off and running at the start of the Boston College Faculty & Staff 5K on June 14, hosted by the Department of Human Resources and Campus Recreation.
photo by lee pellegrini
Ospino
Fr. Bernauer
Kreeft
photos by caitlin cunningham, lee pellegrini and peter julian
Kathleen M. McGillycuddy, the first female chair of the Boston College Board of Trustees, and a pioneer in Boston banking circles, died on June 5.
Ms. McGillycuddy, a 1971 graduate of the Newton College of the Sacred Heart, which merged with BC four years later, became a BC trustee in 2002, and served as vice-chair from 2008 to 2011, when she was named chair, serving until 2014.
At the time, she said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead this distinguished board and to work directly with so many talented and dedicated faculty, staff and students at Boston College. I am committed to doing all that I can to support the continued success of the University.”
College and proceeded to become among the first of several women to assume senior roles in Boston banking for more than three decades.
Margie Richardson, Longtime BC Dining Services Employee
A funeral Mass was held on June 17 for Margery “Margie” Richardson, who worked in Boston College Dining Services for 43 years. Ms. Richardson died on June 6 at the age of 64.
She was a passionate volunteer for BC in addition to her trustee role, serving as founding co-chair of the Council for Women of Boston College in 2002, and later chair until 2023. The council connects the women of Boston College within and beyond the campus, advancing the role of alumnae as leaders and engaged members of the BC community, and strengthening their involvement and influence to support the University’s mission, female students, and one another.
A generous benefactor, Ms. McGillycuddy and her husband, Ronald E. Logue ’67, M.B.A. ’74, were co-chairs of the “Light the World” capital campaign and established the McGillycuddy-Logue Center for Undergraduate Global Studies in 2008 to promote innovative international learning for undergraduates at Boston College.
She earned an M.B.A. from Babson
She began her financial services career in the mid1970s at Bank of New England in the treasury department. Ms. McGillycuddy then led BankBoston Corporation’s Global Markets Group, including the Treasury, Asset Management, and Investment Product and Services Groups, and chaired BankBoston’s Asset/Liability and Capital and Market Risk Management Committees. She retired as executive vice president of the Wealth Management Group for FleetBoston Financial in 2002, overseeing more than $50 billion in assets. She and Logue retired to East Dennis, Mass.
Her zeal for volunteerism extended to the medical field: she served as a member of the Brigham & Women’s Hospital President’s Advisory Board and chair of its Heart and Vascular Center Advisory Board.
Ms. McGillycuddy was raised in Suffern, NY, and attended parochial schools. She is survived by her husband, Ronald; was the stepmother of Amy Logue (Matthew Milowsky) of Chapel Hill, NC, and Emily Logue of Chatham, NY; and the sister of Elizabeth Ferrara of Columbus, Ohio, Eugene McGillycuddy of Dennis, Mass., and Daniel McGillycuddy of Airmont, NY. Her considerable talents were engaged serving as a role model and advisor for her stepchildren, nieces and nephews, who benefited from her endless love and affection.
—University Communications
Roberta Keane; Battled Cancer to Earn Doctorate from LSOEHD
Roberta E. Keane, a Lynch School of Education and Higher Education doctoral student who received her degree in educational leadership in May, died on June 25 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 54.
A native of Somerville, Mass., and a resident of Litchfield, NH, for the past three decades, Dr. Keane had served as director of student services for Lynnfield (Mass.) Public Schools since 2018. She had previously worked in the Bedford (NH) School District as assistant director of special services and special education coordinator. She was remembered for an unwavering dedication to childhood development, a passion for helping, teaching, and advocating for children, and her concern for the best needs of the children and families she served.
“Roberta was a conscientious and engaged student throughout the program, even when she was going through difficult times in her illness,” said Lynch School
Professor Rebecca Lowenhaupt, who was Dr. Keane’s chair and advisor. “She brought passion and insight from her experiences to her dissertation study of one district’s family engagement practices through the lens of cultural humility. Roberta was an active, supportive peer and will be wholeheartedly missed by her cohort-mates and the faculty she got to know.”
In addition to her BC doctorate, Dr. Keane earned a master of education degree in special education and emotional behavioral disabilities from Rivier College and a bachelor’s degree in English and education from St. Anselm College.
She is survived by her parents, James and Nancy Rodrigues; her daughters, Katie Wallace and Tiffany Rentas; her son, Michael Keane; her fiancé, Craig Lovely; her brother, James Rodrigues; and a grandson and a nephew.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on July 2 in Londonderry, NH. —University Communications
A Boston native who spent her childhood and early adulthood in Chestnut Hill, Ms. Richardson started working at BC in 1981 and in 2005 joined the University’s Supported Employment Program (SEP) for adults with developmental disabilities.
Ms. Richardson was a familiar figure in the Corcoran Commons dining facility, often conversing with customers and fellow employees as she went about her job.
In a 2017 interview with Boston College Chronicle, she talked about her daily tasks. “I clean the chairs and tables,” she said, adding with her characteristic hearty laugh: “Not just the table tops, the whole table!”
Meeting “the nice people” who came to Corcoran was one of the favorite parts of her job, along with the variety of duties.
“I like moving around every day,” she said. “Why not?”
After graduating from Brookline High School, Ms. Richardson traveled abroad
Jobs
The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs or scan the QR code at right.
Men’s and Women’s Track/Cross Country Assistant Coach
Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives and External Relations
Enterprise Architect
Network Systems Engineer
Senior Executive Education & Advisory Associate
Fiscal Assistant, Law School
Associate Director, Intercultural Programming
Resident Director
Assistant Dean of Clinical Placement and Community Partnerships, Connell School of Nursing
Administrative Assistant, Campaign Strategy
Assistant Director, Graphic Design Director, Prospect Development
Administrative Assistant, School of Social Work
Special Collections Librarian
Resident Director
Assistant Dean, Student Conduct
Campus Minister
Assistant Rowing Coach
Assistant Director, Student Organizations
extensively with her mother, including to Japan—her favorite country to visit, she said. She spent the last 27 years of her life at a group home in Brookline and participated in an annual summer program at Gateway Arts, a studio art center, gallery, and store supporting meaningful lives and careers in art for adults with disabilities.
“In every smile she shared and every laugh she sparked, Margie wove a tapestry of joy that brightened our days,” said SEP Coordinator Judy Coleman. “Her 43 years of dedication in the dining hall were not just a testament to her work ethic, but a celebration of her vibrant spirit and the love she had for people. Though she may be gone, her laughter echoes in our memories, reminding us that the true measure of a life is the happiness it brings to others.”
Ms. Richardson is survived by her sisters Anne, Alison, and Emilie, sisterin-law Serina, her nieces and nephews, and extended family. She was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Margaret Richardson, and brothers Joseph Jr., Randolph, and Philip.
—University Communications
Facilities Supervisor
Senior Information Security Engineer
Data Services Librarian
Bartender
Temporary Office Pool
Food Service Worker
Special Education Teacher
Police Officer
Campus Security Officer
Associate Director, Student Financial Systems
Assistant/Associate Director, Alumni Operations
Sous Chef/Second Cook
Journeymen Carpenter-Special Projects
Associate Director, Campus Ministry
Assistant/Associate Director, Companions Program
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (multiple positions)
photo by gary wayne gilbert
BC Arts
Hollywood Shines Spotlight on Career of CSON’s Burgess
BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
Connell School of Nursing Professor Ann Burgess has been recognized by the nursing profession as a pioneer in the field of forensics and victimology, and designated a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing and the namesake of an award from the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
Now, Hollywood is shining a spotlight on the psychiatric nurse who has spent her nearly six-decade career studying killers in the new docuseries “Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer,” which recently became available for streaming on Hulu and Hulu On Disney+.
The three-part series, directed by Abby Fuller and produced for Hulu by Campfire Studios in association with Lewellen Pictures, explores the critical role Burgess played as consultant to the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) in developing modern-day serial killer profiling and how her work with law enforcement led to the identification and capture of the country’s most lethal criminals. It also covers her trailblazing work in victimology, helping others to better understand the effects of trauma. Burgess is credited as a consulting producer for the series.
The docuseries had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 7. After a screening of the first episode, Burgess took part in a conversation along with Fuller, showrunner Dani Sloane, and executive producers Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, and Rebecca Evans. Other members of the docuseries team include executive producers Ross M. Dinerstein, Rebecca Halpern, and Lesley Chilcott, and co-executive producers Ross Girard and Mark McCune.
The docuseries is inspired by the 2021 book A Killer by Design: Murders, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher Criminal Minds, co-written by Burgess and CSON Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Steven Constantine, and features exclusive access to Burgess’ personal archive and interviews with Burgess.
The film crew made several trips to Boston College for scouting and shoot-
BC Scenes
Catalyst Program
This summer saw the Carroll School of Management’s Catalyst Program begin its second decade. Designed specifically for non-management students, the eight-week program provides a solid and broad foundation in the functional areas of management. Among the classes offered is Fundamentals of Finance, taught by Robert James (near right), a senior lecturer in the Carroll School.
ing, according to Fuller. “It is a gorgeous campus to film on. It has been an incredible experience working with Dr. Burgess, Steven [Constantine], and everyone we’ve encountered at BC. Truly such a welcoming and beautiful place to spend so much time over the past year.”
Cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano found inspiration in the Theology and Ministry Library on Brighton Campus. “It was aesthetically aligned with what we were looking for. We loved the big windows and the colors of the library. It really felt like it had the architecture and the decor of a place that was believable to have been late 1970s/’80s. That was important because we were trying to evoke the time when Dr. Burgess was doing the work at the Behavioral Science Unit.”
Constantine added that the crew also filmed Burgess in lecture halls, Gasson 100, the Connors Center on in Dover, and along the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, among other campus locations. “It definitely has a BC feel to it,” he said of “Mastermind.”
The topic of profiling serial killers has previously been explored in books and on television, notably in the Netflix series
“Mindhunter” (2017-2019), which was a dramatized account of the early days of the FBI Behavior Science Unit. The show’s character Wendy Carr, played by actress Anna Torv, was loosely based on Burgess.
But Fuller and Constantine note that this series is different.
“This is the first time that her story is being told on screen,” said Fuller. “Dr. Burgess was someone who was a very influential part of the criminal personality study and single-handedly structured the research. As an academic, she bought the skills of data collection, writing, publishing, research, and organization to the process. The agents weren’t trained in research. I think she hasn’t gotten as much credit as some of the other members of the team.
“Dr. Burgess’s story is not just about studying the minds of serial killers. It’s about understanding victims and believing victims. That’s the thread that I saw. The series is about her entire career and the many ways she’s influenced and shaped law enforcement and the courts and different systems.”
“She did her work through the lens of the victim,” said Constantine. “Everyone
else was focused on the offender, and the victim was fairly incidental in the cases. She was one of the first people who brought the idea of victimology to the BSU and got them to think about the victim as an equal part of a case. The victim could not only help solve the case, but was a real person who was affected and the agents needed to think about the impact on that person’s life as well.
“She also expanded the definition of what a victim could be. She changed cultural perceptions about who a victim could be, and I think that is really important,” added Constantine. “There was an element of humanity that she brought to the whole process that didn’t exist before her. And then she continued that in her legal work as well.”
The third episode of the docuseries covers Burgess’s trial work, such as in the murder trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez and the criminal case against Bill Cosby involving victim Andrea Constand.
“The underlying theme in her work is this idea that if we can provide empathy and compassion and really listen to victims, we can shift how we’re able to help people heal from trauma, how we’re able to help the criminal justice system more quickly catch and apprehend offenders,” said Fuller. “It stems from that core drive in her of wanting to help victims. She has been a champion for listening to and believing victims, starting in the early ’70s when no one else was thinking that way.
“At a time when women did not have roles of authority or positions of power, this unassuming, humble woman blazed a trail by standing up for what she believed in. She is a great example of somebody who never questioned herself and understood what was the right thing to do and marched forward. She changed the systems from within, in a very collaborative way. Dr. Burgess is an incredible role model, and her story is very inspiring for young women.”
“Initially, she didn’t want to tell her story because she was more focused on the work,” said Constantine. “She was a bit of a hidden figure. It’s exciting to see her story get told more widely.”
Hulu’s “Mastermind” docuseries explores the groundbreaking work of Boston College nursing professor Ann Burgess in studying serial killers.
