2024 
Spirit of Saint Angela Alumnae Award Recipient
Elizabeth MuLlen '81, P'18, '20

Elizabeth Mullen graduated Ursuline Academy in 1981 after 6 impactful years.  She next attended Wellesley College, where she graduated with a B.S. in 1985. After working for two years in a research lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, she entered Harvard Dental School. During her second year, Elizabeth decided that her passion lay in medicine not dentistry, so she transferred to Yale Medical School, where she graduated with an M.D. in 1992. Elizabeth returned to Boston Children’s hospital for her internship and residency, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology which she completed in 1998. She has remained in the combined Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital Hematology/Oncology program to the present day, and is now an Institute Physician at DFCI, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Pediatric Renal Tumor Program at DFCI/BCH. Although bedside clinical medicine is her greatest passion, she has also established national and international recognition as a leader in both clinical care and clinical and translational research in pediatric renal tumors. She is Vice-Chair of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Renal Tumors Committee and has chaired several large national trials resulting in important changes to standard of care therapy. She has over 80 research publications, has authored multiple book chapters, and her research has resulted in a direct benefit for children with pediatric tumors worldwide. For Elizabeth and her family, Serviam is not a motto, but a way of life. Her community involvement has included being a member of St Joseph’s parish council, 3 decades of volunteering at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a camp founded by Paul Newman for kids with serious medical conditions, and being an active member of Medical Advisory Boards of Camp Casco, and being a past member of Rett’s Roost.

2023 
Spirit of Saint Angela Alumnae
Award Recipients and Gala Honorees

regina sullivan '78
Maureen O’Keefe Doran ’65
Sarah Elizabeth Mettasophia ’03

Regina Sullivan ’78 earned her BA from Boston College and JD from Suffolk University Law School.  She recently stepped down from the Board of Trustees at Ursuline Academy, after a term of ten years, serving the last three years as Chair. Regina’s vast experience in the financial services industry was invaluable in helping to keep Ursuline on a positive trajectory. Regina donates her mind and time to entities that support education and women globally. During her tenure as a global leader, Regina was active in helping women in their careers through mentoring programs and the support of promotion of women at all levels. She is deeply committed to many community organizations, and continues to be involved with the Ursulines as a canonical steward for the Ursuline Education Fund (UEF).

Maureen O’Keefe Doran ’65 went to Boston College as an undergrad and earned a graduate degree in nursing from Yale University, and taught at the University of Colorado Schools of Nursing and Medicine, where she received the Medical School Outstanding Faculty Award. During her career, she lectured extensively in the United States and around the world in England, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, and China. From 2009-2011, Maureen and her husband Kip joined the American Peace Corps, serving at a senior high school in Botswana, Africa. Maureen has served on many community, professional and academic boards, including the Association of Yale Alumni, where she advanced to Chair of the Board.

Sarah Elizabeth Mettasophia ’03 is a queer, vegan Bostonian with two beloved rescue dogs. She earned a BA at Rutgers University with a double major in religion and political science, and earned her Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, where her main areas of focus were Buddhism and Christianity. She has been staff chaplain at Beacon Hospice on Boston’s North Shore, completed her Clinical Pastoral Education chaplain residency at Atrium Health Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was a staff chaplain at Beacon Hospice’s East Providence location. Sarah is now a staff chaplain in Massachusetts General Hospital’s Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, living her life fully with faith, courage, and joy!

2022 
Spirit of Saint Angela Alumnae
Award Recipients and Gala Honorees

Beth Sheehan Collins '02
Alicen J. McGowan '65
Seta V. Nersessian '76
Honorable Marianne B. Bowler '63 (Springfield)

Beth Sheehan Collins ’02 majored in Philosophy and Social Rehabilitation Services at Assumption College, and completed a post-graduate volunteer year working in England in a L’Arche community for adults with disabilities. When she was a senior at Ursuline Academy, Beth began volunteering with My Brother’s Keeper, a vibrant, welcoming Christian ministry in Massachusetts that delivers furniture and food to families in need. Beth continued as an intern during college before joining their staff full-time in September 2007. She currently serves as Manager of In-House Programs, overseeing the food assistance program, but has worn many hats over the years, answering phones, driving trucks, leading tours, training volunteers, and speaking at the State House.  Beth also served for nine years on the Agency Advisory Council at the Greater Boston Food Bank, and is secretary on the board for “The Road to Diversity and Understanding,” an organization committed to fighting racism and building cross-cultural understanding. She has been an active alumna at Ursuline and she has participated in Campus Ministry retreat teams. 

Alicen McGowan '65 earned a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's degree in education, and a doctoral degree in public administration and ethics. Her work with women convicted of murder and given life sentences in prison led her to become a certified specialist in childhood and teen trauma, addiction, play therapy, and mental health counseling.  Alicen authored two books based on her research and clinical experience: We Hid Under the Table (2020) and We Survived in Spite of the System: Stories of Childhood Abuse, Trauma and Trafficking (2021).  In other professional accomplishments, Alicen developed a GED program for inmates at the Norfolk County House of Corrections in Dedham, she worked with marginalized adults to develop a dairy farm where they could earn a living and become self-sufficient, and as director of the Florida History Center and Museum, she worked with the Seminole Tribe to highlight Native cultural identity to the public.  Alicen was also the first woman to be named Massachusetts Deputy Commissioner of Commerce, serving in that position for five years. In the 1980s during the worst of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, Alicen was one of three Americans recruited by the Southern Democratic Labor Party to teach the peace process to negotiators between the IRA and the British Government. 

Seta Nersessian ‘76 earned her undergraduate degree from Wheaton College and a JD degree from Loyola University School of Law, before establishing a career as an attorney. Inspired by the work of numerous local non-profit organizations working to relieve food insecurity, Seta co-founded the nonprofit organization Three Squares New England in 2011 to help those struggling to put food on the table. The organization brings together hunger relief partners, donors, and supporters to raise awareness of food insecurity. Their signature event, The Ride for Food, is an annual 50- or 25-mile bike ride that starts and ends in Dedham, and has raised close to $4.6 million dollars since its inception. Uniquely, 100% of the money raised has gone back to the nonprofit participants in the Ride. Seta has always held a passion for helping others. In addition to her work with Three Squares, she also serves on the Board of Armenian Women’s Welfare Association, which serves elders locally and internationally through the sponsorship of elder service programs.

 Judge Marianne B. Bowler ’63 graduated from Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Massachusetts, earned her A.B. from Regis College, and worked in medical research and science journalism before earning a law degree cum laude from Suffolk Law School. She later received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from both Regis College and Suffolk University. In 1978 she joined the United States Department of Justice as an assistant United States attorney in Massachusetts, where she prosecuted organized crime, earned a reputation as an outstanding litigator, and taught trial practice to newly appointed federal prosecutors. In 1990, she was appointed United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Massachusetts, serving as a mediator as part of the court’s Alternate Dispute Resolution Program. She has conducted over 750 mediations in her career and is a frequent lecturer on the subject. Her special legal interests include admiralty, biotechnology, intellectual property, international law, medicolegal issues, and product liability. From 2008 to 2014, Judge Bowler served as a member of the International Judicial Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States by appointment of Chief Justice Roberts of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was the first foreign female judge to speak in Kuwait and has lectured extensively in the Middle East and Asia. 

2019 
Spirit of Saint Angela Alumnae
Award Recipients and Gala Honorees

Carol Luccio Farwell '67, P '96, '00 
and Myra Kenny '10

Carol Luccio Farwell '67, P '96, '00 has been named a recipient of the Spirit of Saint Angela Alumnae Award for her work as a Child Life Specialist in the Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology Department in Floating Hospital at Tufts Medical Center, working with children and families to help them cope with the challenges of hospitalization, illness, and disability. Carol has also been a long-time volunteer at St. Susanna's Parish in Dedham, where she runs a monthly communion service for the elderly, coordinates an annual "Anointing Mass" for the sick, and facilitates a baby shower to benefit the Boston Archdiocese Pregnancy Help initiative.  

Myra Kenny '10 has been named a recipient of the Spirit of Saint Angela Alumnae Award for her work as a nurse practitioner in an addiction treatment program, supporting individuals who are struggling with opioid and alcohol use disorders in a program that combines both medication and counseling to give patients the best chance at remission. Further, she is a long-time volunteer at Ursuline Academy, offering her time at the junior and senior retreats, sharing her story with students, and encouraging them to seek introspection and better their communities.