News Release
UDM 2010 Commencement Honors Maureen A. Fay, O.P., Ph.D
University of Detroit Mercy will hold its annual commencement ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students on Saturday, May 15, 1:30 p.m. at Calihan Hall on the McNichols Campus. More than 800 graduates and their families are expected to attend the event.
Since 2005, Fay has been the executive director for the AJCU Leadership Seminar, working directly with Jesuit universities throughout the U.S. Prior to her UDM position, she led Mercy College of Detroit from 1983-1990.
As president of University of Detroit Mercy, Fay focused her attention on the growth and revitalization of UDM, Michigan's largest, most comprehensive Catholic university with an enrollment of approximately 6,000 students. She also maintained a sustained effort to develop urban partnerships wherever the academic pursuits of the university and the needs of the surrounding communities intersected.
In assessing the university's performance, she at one point remarked, "Even though our graduates have gone on to become corporate executives, elected officials, civic and community servants, teachers, attorneys, health care providers, engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, architects, and noted professionals in every field, that is not the truest measure of our success. The truest measure of our success is that we are making a substantive and positive difference in our world through the lives of our students, our faculty, our staff, and our graduates."
A native of Chicago, Fay received a Master’s of Arts degree in English from University of Detroit and earned a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago in Social Sciences. At the University of Chicago, she won a prestigious Carnegie Fellowship and later received an American Council on Education Fellowship.
She remains active in many Detroit area community and civic organizations as well as with a number of educational organizations including the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Downtown (Detroit) Partnership, New Detroit and Kelly Services. She has earned various awards from civic and non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army, the National Conference for Humanity and Justice, and Alternatives for Girls.
Also during the commencement program, UDM Valedictorian Katelyn McCutcheon, an engineering graduate in the Civil and Mechanical Engineering program, will address the audience, representing this year’s graduates.
McCutcheon has achieved many accomplishments during her time at UDM, including being named to the Engineering and Science Dean’s List every semester. Her extra-curricular activities include Student Dean of the Honors Program, former member of the UDM soccer team, president of Pi Tau Sigma, the National Mechanical Engineering Honor Society.
Release date: May 06, 2010
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