117th Commencement Exercises May 19, 2011 - The Jewish ...

honorary degrees
Dr. Mary C. Boys
Doctor of Letters, honoris causa
Sponsored by
Mrs. Diane Wohl
Dr. Carol K. Ingall
Prized educator, writer, lecturer, and expert in religious pedagogy and Jewish-Christian
relations, your work has played a signal role in enhancing the ability of both Jews and Christians
to better appreciate the core values and concerns of the other, and to view each other with
respect. You have taught us how much we have in common, while remaining an authentic voice
of your own tradition.
You have been the respected Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology at Union
Theological Seminary since 1994, and have served as a distinguished adjunct faculty member of
The Jewish Theological Seminary and Teachers College, Columbia University. Former professor
at Boston College, you have shared your expertise as an international visiting lecturer and
as a synagogue scholar-in-residence in the United States. You were a Lilly Research Fellow
and a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology, and are a member of the editorial boards of many
valued religious education journals. Codirector of the Lilly Endowment–sponsored Religious
Particularism and Pluralism project, you are a member of the boards of the Tanenbaum Center
for Interreligious Understanding and the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education,
among others, and serve on the advisory committee for the Secretariat for Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In 2005, you became
the recipient of the International Council of Christians and Jews’ Sternberg Award. Author of
five books and numerous journal articles, you have also been a wise, insightful presence in the
media on matters pertaining to Christian-Jewish relations. Since 1965, you have been a member
of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, a congregation of Roman Catholic women
to which you are devoted.
You are a loving peacemaker who has aided student and teacher alike. You have brought
knowledge and goodwill to populations and places where misinformation and misunderstanding
threatened to take root, and convey a powerful belief in a more benevolent and abundant future.
3