Gannon Celebrating Spring Commencement
Posted: May 10, 2013Gannon University President Keith Taylor, Ph.D., will recognize graduates at the University’s spring Commencement ceremony, to be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 11 at Erie Insurance Arena.
Gannon will award 768 degrees for the spring commencement that include 43 students earning doctoral degrees, 261 earning master’s degrees, 435 earning bachelor’s degrees and 28 earning associate’s degrees. Students from 11 nations will be earning degrees on Saturday. Including students earning degrees at the December 2012 ceremony, Gannon University will have a graduating class of 978 for the 2012-13 Academic Year.
Commencement Events
Commissioning Ceremony for Army ROTC
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Location: Gannon University Waldron Campus Center Room 219.
Press: Welcome to attend
Baccalaureate Mass
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m.
Location: St. Peter Cathedral
Press: Welcome to attend
Commencement Interviews
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Assembly Of Graduates / 2:00 pm Commencement
Location: Erie Insurance Arena, 809 French Street
Interviews: Bishop Persico, President Dr. Taylor & guest speaker Sr.Mary Ann Dillion
Press: Please plan on entering from the rear of the Erie Insurance Arena and proceed through loading dock area and head far left behind the graduation staging area. A representative from Gannon University will be waiting to greet you for the on camera interviews.
Commencement Line Up Of Graduates
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Erie Insurance Arena, 809 French Street
Press: Welcome to attend
Commencement
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Erie Insurance Arena, 809 French Street
Press: Welcome to attend
Gannon University Keynote Speaker
Sr. Mary Ann Dillon, R.S.M., Ph.D., Senior Vice-President of Mission and Sponsorship of Mercy Health System of Southeastern PA in Conshohocken, will be the ceremony’s keynote speaker and will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa.
More about Mary Ann Dillon, R.S.M., Ph.D
As senior Vice President of mission and sponsorship, Sr. Dillon is responsible for clinical and organizational ethics education, programs and processes throughout the System as well as for development and implementation of formation programs for trustees, leadership team members and colleagues.
Sr. Dillon came to Mercy Health System in 2011 after a long career in higher education, most recently as president of Mount Aloysius College, Cresson, PA. During her 17-year tenure at Mount Aloysius, the college increased enrollment by 47 percent, more than tripled the number of baccalaureate programs and introduced its first masters degree programs. Sr. Dillon inaugurated the position of vice-president for mission integration, oversaw the formulation and execution of a transformational Campus Master Plan and completed the college’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign.
Previously, Sr. Dillon was dean of general education at Saint Francis University, Loretto, PA, where she also served as assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies. At Saint Francis, she was a member of the Advisory Board of St. Francis Ethics Institute, developing and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in health care ethics that were required of all undergraduates in nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy and occupational therapy programs.
In service to her faith and her community, Sr. Dillon is a member of the Boards of Trustees of Misericordia University, Salve Regina University, Gwynedd-Mercy College and the University of Detroit Mercy. Sr. Dillon is also a member of the Board of Advisors of the Graduate Program in Health Services Administration of Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has served on the Boards of Directors of Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Conemaugh Health System and Bon Secours-Holy Family Hospital.
Sr. Dillon was a provincial administrator for the Sisters of Mercy of Dallas, PA, as well as a general administrative team member for the Sisters of Mercy of the Union in Potomac, MD. She was also a founding member of the Conference for Mercy Higher Education, and chair of the Board of Directors for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP). She is a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Mercy Association of Scripture and Theology.
Sr. Dillon was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in English from Misericordia University, Dallas, PA, a Master of Arts in theology from the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto and a doctorate in systematic theology from Duquesne University.