Catholic Relief Services Leader to Speak at The University of Scranton
Carolyn Woo, Ph.D., president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), will present “Faith, Action, Results” at The University of Scranton on Thursday, May 8. CRS, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S. and one of the world’s largest and most respected international relief and development agencies, reaches more than 130 million people in nearly 100 countries annually.
The lecture will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center on campus. The event is free and open to the public, and reservations are suggested.
“Dr. Woo’s service, experience and influence on the world stage will offer our students and members of the greater Scranton community a real-life example of the difference people can make in the lives of others,” said University of Scranton President Kevin P. Quinn, S.J. “We are delighted to have Dr. Woo speak as part of our 125th anniversary Engaged, Integrated and Global Lecture Series”
Dr. Woo joined Catholic Relief Services in 2012 after a distinguished academic and service career, which included membership on the CRS Board of Directors from 2004 to 2010. Representing CRS, Dr. Woo was featured recently in Foreign Policy magazine as one of the “500 Most Powerful People on the Planet” and one of 33 in the category of “A Force for Good.” Her Catholic News Service monthly column took first place in the 2013 Catholic Press Association Awards in the category of “Best Regular Column – Spiritual Life.”
From 1997 to 2011, Dr. Woo was dean of the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, Ind. During her tenure, the Mendoza College was recognized frequently as the nation’s leading business school in ethics education and research, and it received top ranking in 2010 and 2011 for its undergraduate business program from Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. Previously, she served as associate executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
Dr. Woo’s teaching, research and administrative leadership have been recognized through Best Paper Awards by the Academy of Management; selection as one of “Forty Young Leaders of American Academe” by Change magazine (the journal of the American Association for Higher Education); and several distinguished alumna and honorary alumna designations. She was the first female dean to chair the accreditation body for business schools, AACSB: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, and she directed AACSB’s initiative for Peace through Commerce.
Currently, Dr. Woo serves on the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities USA; the Board of Governors for the University of Notre Dame Australia; the Archdiocese of Baltimore Independent Child Abuse Review Board; the Executive Council on Development of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Migration & Refugee Services, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and the International Policy Committee, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She also helped launch the Principles for Responsible Management Education for the United Nations Global Compact program.
Dr. Woo received her B.S., M.S.I.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue University, where she then became a faculty member.
Father Quinn served as the first speaker in the lecture series, when he presented “Engaged, Integrated, Global: Jesuit Education in the 21st Century” in the fall semester.
The University’s 125th anniversary celebration has lectures, exhibits, and other events, which have been held throughout the 2013-2014 academic year.
For further information or to make a reservation, call Frani Mancuso, director of special events at The University of Scranton, at 570-941-6200.