Sister Margaret Mary O'Connell, SSND

(née Claire Marie O'Connell)

First Profession

Motherhouse

Baltimore, Maryland

Sixth President

College of Notre Dame of Maryland

1950 to 1968

Beloved sister of Sister Mary Edwin O'Connell, SSND; & Father P. Josephus B. O'Connell, SJ.

Sister Margaret Mary O'Connell, who as President of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland from 1950 to 1968 led the school through significant changes, died of respiratory failure December 13, 1995 in the Maria Health Center at Villa Assumpta, the Motherhouse of the School Sisters of Notre Dame near Woodbrook. She was 89.

After stepping down as President, Sister continued teaching education courses until retiring in 1982.

A diminutive woman with rimless glasses, Sister Margaret Mary established a separate college corporation from the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1957 and sought the advice of lay people to the college. One of the first changes Sister Margaret Mary made was admitting black students to the previously all-white school.

Sister Margaret Mary also was known for "pounding the pavement" for money, seeking wisdom and expertise from many, including developer Henry J. Knott, who was appointed to the board in 1962.

She launched an ambitious building campaign that saw the high school, Notre Dame Preparatory School, relocate to Towson in 1960; the renovation of Gibbons Hall and a dormitory, Doyle Hall built in 1960; the Knott Science Center completed in 1962; and the merging of the libraries of Loyola College and Notre Dame of Maryland into a new building which opened in 1973.

Sister Margaret Mary challenged those who questioned the constitutionality of state grants to church-related colleges and sought to define the role of the church in the college.

In 1964, she testified for more than three hours in the landmark "Horace Mann League vs. J. Millard Tawes" case. She repeated over and over that "the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church do not influence the teaching of subjects other than religion and philosophy at Notre Dame College."

Born in New York City, Sister Margaret Mary, whose Baptismal name was Claire Marie, became an aspirant of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1919. She completed high school at Baltimore's Institute of Notre Dame in 1922 and professed her vows in 1929.

Sister earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in 1926 and a master's in biology from Catholic University in 1939. And in 1950, she earned her Ph.D. in education from the Johns Hopkins University.

She is survived by two sisters, Sister Mary Edwin O'Connell, SSND of Baltimore, and Irene Cullinan of New York; and a niece, Claire Marie Hartman of Baltimore.

School Sisters of Notre Dame, Baltimore Province

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!