Saint Joseph’s College
Honorary Degrees

Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Portland will receive an honorary degree. The Bishop was selected because of his many accomplishments as a priest, Bishop, teacher, chaplain, and theologian. In addition, he has been particularly helpful to Saint Joseph's College, the only Catholic college in the Diocese. He has also distinguished himself as being very open to the media.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, he graduated from St. John Seminary in Boston with a B.A. in Philosophy, a B.A. in Divinity, and a M.A. in Theology. He earned a doctorate in Theology from Boston University in 1981 and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 1990.

Ordained in 1972, he was assigned to St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham. Bishop Malone has served on the faculties of St. Clement High School in Somerville and at Xaverian High School in Westwood, where he also served as chaplain. In 1979 Bishop Malone was appointed to the faculty of St. John Seminary College, where he taught religious and theological studies. During these years, Bishop Malone also served as a part-time chaplain at Wellesley College and Regis College and taught at Emmanuel College in Boston. In 1990, Bishop Malone was assigned to the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center as chaplain at St. Paul Parish. Three years later, he was appointed Director of the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese, and in 1995 was named Secretary of Education for the Archdiocese of Boston.

In March 2000, he was ordained a Bishop and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, South Region. Bishop Malone also produced and hosted television programs for Boston Catholic Television and was the archdiocesan liaison with the local Jewish community. Bishop Malone was installed as the 11th Bishop of Portland, Maine on March 31, 2004.

Dr. David B. House’s tenure in higher education administration reflects positions of increasing scope and responsibility. He has served as assistant dean of the School of Fine Arts and the director of the Master of Liberal Arts Program at the University of Southern California; the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Director of the Division of Arts and Sciences in the School of Continuing Studies at Johns Hopkins University; the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Humanities at Bellarmine University and from 1995 to the present, the president of Saint Joseph's College.

The face of the campus has changed dramatically during Dr. House’s 12 years at the College. He has overseen a major expansion of the campus that includes several new buildings – the Alfond Center, the student recreation center, three (3) new residence halls, and Alfond Hall, a four-story academic building, while at the same time directing strategic planning initiatives and the creation of a campus master plan.
Dr. House has also obtained major grants from leading foundations while concurrently working to increase the College’s donor base; strengthening the core curriculum; initiating a self-assessment process for the Board; and completing the 10-year accreditation process of the College through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.


Commencement Speaker
Sister Deirdre Mullan, RSM, Ph.D.

The commencement speaker at Saint Joseph’s College is Sr. Deirdre Mullan, a Sister of Mercy from Northern Ireland who is the director of Mercy Global Concern at the United Nations, where she represents the worldwide Sisters of Mercy to advocate for the less privileged, promote human solidarity and dignity, and care for the earth. The title of her graduation talk is “The True Meaning of Wealth.”

In December 2002, Mullan was elected by the other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) at the United Nations to the Executive Committee of the UN. She grew up witnessing the years of violence and destruction from the conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, often referred to as the “troubles.” She taught for more than 20 years in Derry, Northern Ireland, and served as the Head of Religious Studies at Thornhill College. In 1996 she was part of a committee charged with looking at the under-representation of women, Catholics, and ethnic minorities in the Royal Ulster Constabulary police force. The report from this group helped to shape the new police force of Northern Ireland.

Sr. Deirdre holds a bachelor’s degree in social science from the Open University at Queens, Belfast, Northern Ireland, a Master of Arts in educational administration from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and wrote her doctorate dissertation on “The Feminization of Poverty.” She has authored many publications on issues such as spirituality and leadership, foreign policy, peace, and human rights.

The Sisters of Mercy founded Saint Joseph’s College in 1912.