Sister Karen Schneider RSM, MD, MPH will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during the Saint Joseph’s College Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 11, 2019. Sister Karen is a pediatrician and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland where she has been recognized for her international medical work in the service of children. Sister Karen coordinates the Pediatric Tropical Medicine elective, for which she supervises clinical experiences for residents in several countries, lectures on tropical medicine to pediatric residents, and updates out-of-country physicians and health workers on medical topics. She has completed more than 80 medical mission trips.
Sister Karen Schneider, RSM, MD, MPH
Saint Joseph’s College President Dlugos said, “Through her missionary work in Haiti, Guyana, Nigeria, and Kenya, Sr. Karen Schneider has provided medical care to countless people in need of assistance and, equally importantly, has touched both young and not-so-young with her healing presence. She embodies the spirit of Catherine McAuley, and we’re proud to welcome her to the Saint Joseph’s College family with this honorary degree.”
Sister Karen entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1983. After earning a B.S. in Mathematics Education from Molloy College in 1984, Sister Karen taught mathematics at Catherine McAuley High School in Brooklyn, New York from 1985-1992. She earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn in 1996. She completed a pediatric residency at Yale Children’s Hospital in 1999 and a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins in 2002 before joining the university as a faculty member. She then earned a Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
About the Saint Joseph's honorary doctorate Sister Karen said, “I would not be able to do this ministry without the support of the Sisters of Mercy who educated me and continue to encourage and support me, the many volunteers who travel with me and the many donors who trust me to spend their money on the children who have the greatest need! So I accept this degree on behalf of all those who participate In this ministry.”
Sister Karen is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and Amnesty International. Sister Karen’s tireless efforts have gained the attention of the national media. She has been featured on CBS News, CNN, Catholic News Service, and National Catholic Reporter. In 2010, she was named “Person of the Week” by Washington D.C. area ABC news affiliate, WJLA.
About Saint Joseph’s College Commencement
The Saint Joseph’s College Commencement will take place on Saturday, May 11, 2019, at 10 a.m. at the Sebago Lake campus, 278 Whites Bridge Road in Standish, Maine. In addition to conferring an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters to Sister Karen Schneider, the College will award an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service to Donato J. Tramuto. More information can be found at: https://www.sjcme.edu/graduation.
About Saint Joseph’s College
Founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy in Portland, Maine, Saint Joseph’s College is Maine’s Catholic liberal arts College with a commitment to sustainability and wellness. The 474-acre campus, located on the shore of Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine offers more than 40 undergraduate programs and a nationally renown Division III athletic program to a population of approximately 1,000 on-campus students. The College provides certificates and undergraduate and advanced degrees for thousands more working adults who reside throughout the United States and in more than 20 other countries through an online learning program. In 2015 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized the College’s focus on community service through its mission and daily interactions with local, regional, and global communities with the Community Engagement Classification.
