Past Award Recipients 1971-1975

Eleanor Hess McMahon, '50

Mother Xavier Award 1971

Eleanor majored in Business Administration and Economics. She received an M.A. from Brown University in Educational Measurement and Economics (1954) and an Ed.D. from Harvard University (1967). She has received 10 honorary degrees, including one from CSE (1976). Eleanor worked as a teacher and statistician in the Pawtucket (RI) School Department (1950-63). She was Director and Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at Salve Regina College (1963-65). She held several professorial and administrative appointments at Rhode Island College, including terms as Dean of Educational Studies, Distinguished Professor, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. From 1982-89 Eleanor was Rhode Island's Commissioner of Higher Education, while remaining a Distinguished Professor at Rhode Island College. From 1990- 93 she was a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University, and from 1989 to the present she has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Brown University. Eleanor has written numerous scholarly publications on educational issues, and she has been an officer in many professional and community-service associations. She was elected to the Rhode Island Hall of Fame in 1986. Eleanor received the first Distinguished Alumna Award from CSE in 1997, and she received the Mother Xavier Award in 1971. "CSE provided balance, order, and direction to my life, in concert with a vision of God."

Gleason, Sister Mary Ellen, S.C., Joyce, Sister Ellen, S.C., and Sirgiovanni, George. Lives of Achievement and Service: Biographical Statements of Distinguished College of Saint Elizabeth Alumnae. Morristown, New Jersey: College of Saint Elizabeth 1999.

Mary C. McKeon, '34

Mother Xavier Award 1972

A Math Major who graduated summa cum laude, Mary went on to become one of the outstanding women in the life insurance business. Her employer was Prudential Insurance Company. After working as a special agent for Prudential, she was appointed in 1952 that firm's first woman Division Manager, which made her responsible for recruiting and training women agents. In 1953 the American College of Life Underwriters named Mary a "Chartered Life Underwriter," a coveted designation in the life insurance business and one that is obtained only after passing a grueling five-part educational program. In 1957 Mary was asked to manage Prudential's first office in Montclair, New Jersey. There she supervised a group of men and women insurance agents. In 1963, following the deaths of her father and brother, Mary assumed the management of the family real estate and insurance business, Edward F. McKee, Inc. At the same time she retained an affiliation with Prudential as a special agent. Mary received a "Woman of Achievement Award" from The Business and Professional Women's Club of West Hudson in 1965, and a Community Service Award from Prudential in 1968. She was founder and first President of the Catholic Women's College Club. Mary served as President of the Alumnae Association from 1961-63, she was a College Trustee, and she received the Mother Xavier Award in 1972. Mary died on December 1, 1997.

Jean F. Judge, '44

Mother Xavier Award 1973

Jean received a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics, specializing in Food and Nutrition. From the time of her graduation until 1955, she worked in a variety of managerial positions in the food industry. From 1955-70 Jean was a Professor and Food Marketing Specialist at Rutgers University. She was a charter and founding board member of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business. From 1974 until her retirement in 1994, she was owner and C.E.O of her own consulting firm, Jean Judge Associates, Inc. Jean served on the College's Board of Trustees for nine years, and she received the Mother Xavier Award in 1973. "I thank the Lord, my faith, my parents and family, CSE and the Sisters of Charity for my spiritual and moral 'center' and driving and sustaining strength, as well as for whatever I have been able to achieve in my life."

Lucia Cormier, '32

Mother Xavier Award 1974

Lucia majored in French; she also received an M.A. in Languages from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1940. She was the head of the Modern Languages Department of Stephens High School, in Rumford, Maine, for 14 years. She also owned and operated a stationery store in Rumford for 14 years. Entering politics, she won election to six two-year terms in the Maine State House of Representatives. She became the first woman to serve as Floor Leader for her party, and she served one term as House Minority Leader. Time referred to her as the "mother superior" of Maine's Democratic Party; Time also lauded her for having "proved in the rough-and-tumble school of state politics that she could outshine the men around her." In 1960 Lucia was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate; however, she lost to incumbent Senator Margaret Chase Smith. President John Kennedy appointed Lucia District Director of U.S. Customs for Maine and New Hampshire, a post she held until August 1974. Lucia also was a trustee of the University of Maine and a member of the Advisory Board of St. Joseph's College. Additionally, Lucia was a member of her diocesan Board of Education from 1968-72. In 1972, she received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal. Lucia received the Mother Xavier Award in 1974. She died on January 26, 1993.

Veronica Beirne Dolan, '47

Mother Xavier Award 1975

An English major, Vera was President of the Student Organization, served on the Committee on Interracial Justice, and managed the fencing team. She taught Latin and History in Jersey City and, after raising two sons, was librarian at schools in West New York and Deal. She taught Religious Education in three parishes and was volunteer librarian at two schools and a hospital. A former member of St. Anselm Parish Council, Vera served with the RCIA team there. A Mother Xavier recipient (1975), she is past president of the Alumnae Association and of the Hudson and Monmouth chapters, and she served on the College Board of Trustees, and as President of the Avon Library Board of Trustees. Vera is on the Executive Board of NJLTA. She is a member of the League of Women Voters and does volunteer work for an AIDS center. "My education at Saint Elizabeth's gave me the knowledge and self-confidence to take on whatever came my way and face up to it. It also made me proud to be a woman and to know that women have the right, indeed the duty, to be heard."