Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, will receive an honorary degree and deliver the Dorothy A.P. Leunissen Presidential Lecture as part of the University’s 52nd Charter Day celebration on March 15, 2017. Cardinal Dolan will speak on “St. John Neumann: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” at 1:15 p.m. in the main arena of the Mirenda Center for Sport, Spirituality and Character Development.

The Charter Day event will also include liturgy at 12:00 p.m. in the Mirenda Center and a 2:30 p.m. reception in the Bayada Atrium. The reception will provide students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members the opportunity to acknowledge Dr. Rosalie Mirenda, who is retiring on June 30 after 21 years as Neumann University’s president.

All events are free and open to the public; however, advance registration is required. Seats may be reserved by clicking HERE.

Appointed to the College of Cardinals by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, Cardinal Dolan has a record of distinguished service to the Catholic Church. He was elected to a three-year term as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2010, and he now serves as chair of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life activities.

Cardinal Dolan has also served as chairman of Catholic Relief Services, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. He is also a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications; and, at the Vatican, the Congregation for Eastern Churches, and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.  

Prior to his leadership of the USCCB, he served as Archbishop of New York, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, and as Archbishop of Milwaukee, appointed there by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2002. Born in Ballwin, Missouri, in 1950, he has served God and the Church for more than 40 years, having been ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis in 1976.

Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Dolan participated in the Conclave that elected Pope Francis in March, 2013.

The Leunissen Lecture is delivered every year on the anniversary of Neumann’s founding. The Dorothy A.P. Leunissen Presidential Lecture Series was established in 2004 to bring speakers to the University’s campus to address current topics of interest in Catholic Franciscan higher education.

Neumann’s annual Leunissen Lecture is named after Dorothy A. Piatnek-Leunissen, Ph.D., M.D. A longtime area physician, she launched private practice in 1976 with her late husband, R.L. Abraham Leunissen, M.D., at Riddle Memorial Hospital in Media. She was a lifelong friend of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and supporter of Neumann University.