Colleges of Arts and Sciences

Another measure of the quality and depth of the educational experience in the College of Arts & Sciences, are the achievements of our alumni. You’ll see that these alumni have taken our Jesuit tradition to heart, and have

succeeded through their contributions to the common good. All of us are exceedingly proud of their accomplishments - they truly represent the essence of Saint Joseph’s University.

Sr. Mary Scullion ’76 has been involved in service work and advocacy for homeless and mentally ill persons since 1978. In 1988 she helped to found the Outreach Coordination Center, an innovative program coordinating private and public agencies doing outreach to chronically homeless persons in Center City Philadelphia. She was a co-founder in 1985 of Woman of Hope, which provides permanent residences and support services for homeless mentally ill women. She is also co-founder of Project H.O.M.E., a nationally recognized organization that provides housing, employment, education and health care to enable the homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Sister Mary has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates for her leadership in the City of Philadelphia, including the 1992 Philadelphia Award. In 2002, Sister Mary was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship, and that same year, she received the Ford Foundation's prestigious "Leadership for a Changing World Award." In 2009, she was named by TIME Magazine as one of 'The World's 100 Most Influential People.' “The Jesuit spirituality had a profound impact on my life. While a student at Saint Joseph’s University I met Father Arrupe, the superior general of the Jesuits. He said something that made a lasting impact on me. He said, ‘If someone is hungry anywhere in the world, the Eucharist is incomplete everywhere in the world.’ It is the Jesuit spirit which inspires us to work toward liberation from anything that oppresses the human spirit.” ~ Sister Mary Scullion

Mark Orrs ’03 is a fourth-year doctoral student in Sustainable Development at Columbia University. His primary interest is African economic growth and development. In 2003, Mark earned a B.S. in Sociology from Saint Joseph’s University. After a year of teaching fifth grade in Camden, New Jersey, he studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, from which he received a Diploma in Economics with Distinction. Mark is co-author of two articles on HIV/AIDS stigma, which were published in major public health journals. Mark has traveled to East Africa multiple times, including in 2006 to film a documentary on street children in Nairobi. He has worked at a home for HIV-positive AIDS orphans and has also participated in the Millennium Villages Project and in socio-medical outreach projects in Africa. “The Saint Joseph's experience completely transformed me, both in the classroom and out. I went in one person, and came out someone new - not only more educated and knowledgeable, but also more aware, compassionate, and dedicated to the service of others. I don't believe this would have happened just anywhere; it requires a special place and environment, where your professors and staff know you and care about you and the world around you, and where you can discover and be your truest self. If not for Saint Joe's, I think it's safe to say I wouldn't be at Columbia University finishing a Ph.D. in Sustainable Development. While elsewhere I may have gained the same academic preparedness and intellectual mind for the rigors of this multidisciplinary program, I'm not so sure I would have gained the same insights and heart, which led me here in the first place. I can't underestimate the importance of finding your calling, and then doing it, and that's just what Saint Joe's enabled me to do.” ~ Mark Orrs

Katie McGinty has been working to forge new paths and synergies between economic growth and environmental protection in her career in government, and now in business. McGinty has maintained that every economy, even the most advanced, depends on the ready availability of clean water, air and arable land; and that the environment suffers when financial resources are lacking. As Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, McGinty tackled pollution problems in part by attracting clean technology and renewable energy companies to the state. While working with President Bill Clinton as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and before that as a legislative assistant to then Senator Al Gore, she helped craft U.S. legislation and international treaties that gave a boost to new technologies and innovation. Today, McGinty continues her work in the private sector as Senior Vice President of Weston Solutions, Inc., where she leads the sustainable property redevelopment division; as an Operating Partner at Element Partners, a clean tech private equity firm; and as a Director at NRG Energy and Iberdrola USA. McGinty was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, Woman of the Year by the Woman's Council on Energy and the Environment, and is the recipient of numerous environmental awards, including the Ansel Adams Award of the Wilderness Society. "The great love of learning inspired by the Jesuits and the respect for different philosophies and theologies shown by the Jesuits helped me to appreciate that no one has a lock on the truth; instead, we all have something valuable to contribute. The Jesuits also call us to be 'men and women for others', and so whether in public service or now in business, I've had the joy of knowing that I am part of something larger than myself and that it is both my privilege and responsibility to give my all and help others to appreciate the unique gifts they have to give as well."

Ambassador David F. Girard-diCarlo ‘70, Ret., has been named in The Best Lawyers in America as a leading corporate lawyer and government relations specialist. Mr. Girard-diCarlo was appointed by former President George W. Bush to serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Austria in 2008- 2009. Prior to becoming Ambassador, Mr. Girard-diCarlo served for 22 years as the managing partner and/or chairman of a large professional services firm headquartered in Philadelphia. From 1996 until 2002, he served as a member of the board of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. He was Chairman of the board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce from 1997-1998, and also served on the boards of Midlantic Corporation, Pennoni Associates, Inc., the Philadelphia Belt Line Railroad Company, AMTRAK, and SEPTA. Actively involved in politics for more than three decades, Mr. Girard-diCarlo has held positions with numerous local, state and federal campaigns including the Ridge for Governor Committee, the Bush-Cheney 2000 Campaign, the 2000 Republican National Convention, Bush-Cheney ’04 Campaign, and McCain for President 2008. An active participant in the business and cultural communities, Mr. Girard-diCarlo has served in leadership positions at The Academy of Music, the Walnut Street Theatre, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. among others. Currently, Mr. Girard-diCarlo serves as president of The Pennsylvania Society and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Saint Joseph's University, the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, the Board of Consultors of the Villanova University School of Law, and the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. Mr. Girard-diCarlo has received the Americanism Award from the Anti-Defamation League, the Gerald Abraham Award for Distinguished Service from Villanova University School of Law, the Pontifical Honor of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and the Judge Learned Hand Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee.

Saint Joseph’s University consistently ranks among the top liberal arts universities in the nation.			Honored with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and sponsor of sixteen discipline-specific honor societies chapters.