News » Kathleen receives Sapientia et Doctrina Award from Fordham University
Sister Kathleen Deignan, CND, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies and Founder and Director of Iona’s Spirituality Institute Receives Award
Sister Kathleen Deignan, CND, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and founder and director of Iona College’s Spirituality Institute will receive the Sapientia et Doctrina Award from Fordham University at their fourth annual Sapientia et Doctrina awards celebration on Friday October 16th. “On behalf of the Iona community we are extremely proud of Dr. Deignan’s recognition as the recipient of this prestigious award. Dr. Deignan exemplifies the true spirit of Iona’s Mission of intellectual inquiry and the values of justice, peace and service,” said Dr. Brian Nickerson, Iona’s Dean of the School of Arts and Science.
Dr. Deignan earned her master’s degree and doctoral degree in Christian spirituality and historical theology, respectively, at Fordham University. She is professor of religious studies at Iona College, where she founded and directs the Iona Spirituality Institute, a project for the celebration and cultivation of the spiritual life. The author of Christ Spirit: The Eschatology of the American Shakers (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992), she also edited When the Trees Say Nothing: Thomas Merton’s Writings on Nature (Sorin Books, 2003), which was selected as the Book of the Month by Spiritual Books Associates and reached No. 3 on the Catholic bestseller list in summer2003. In 2007, her book, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours (Sorin Books, 2007), was selected as the Book of the Month by Spiritual Books Associates, and reached No. 2 on the Catholic bestseller list. Sister Deignan is among the first class of Green Faith Fellows, a training program for religious environmental leaders. For more than 32 years, Sister Deignan, a sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame, has been composer, singer and a vital part of the music ministry at the Benedictine Grange in West Redding, Conn. A dozen recordings of her original music have been produced by Schola Ministries, most recently an audio version of Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours.
Founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Edmund Rice Christian Brothers, Iona College is a private, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of American Catholic higher education. Iona – currently listed in the top tier of US News and World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges 2010; The Princeton Review’s Best Northeastern Colleges 2010 edition and Business Week’s Top 25 Undergraduate Business Schools in the Northeast – offers undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and master of business administration degrees and numerous post-graduate certificate programs.