Education 
The Honorable Thomas Kean
Furthering Education The Honorable Thomas Kean has managed to strike a rare balance between maintaining a successful political career and making a significant contribution to American higher education. A prominent Republican both in his home state and on the national scene, Kean’s political significance was cemented after spending eight years as governor of New Jersey. When his second term ended in 1990, rather than taking a well-deserved rest, Kean began his tenure as president of Drew University,
displaying not only his commitment to education, but also his dedication to the state of New Jersey.
With a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College, and over 25 honorary degrees from education organizations across the country, Thomas Kean has been involved in the world of higher education for several decades. His commitment to students has been balanced with his civic engagement, however. Kean’s political significance was evident in 2003 when President Bush appointed him as chair of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States. This new role places Kean at the forefront of the effort to investigate the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Kean’s packed schedule as head of a major federal commission, president of Drew University, and regular columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger has confirmed the reputation of this Scotch-Irish-American as a leader in the worlds of political involvement and educational progress. 
Reverend Joseph McShane
Higher Learning
For Reverend Joseph McShane, being president of New York’s Fordham University is not simply a career, but a chance to synthesize his commitment to education with his Jesuit calling. Inaugurated in 2003 as Fordham’s 32nd president, McShane has committed himself to improving the university through facility upgrades and increased applicants. But Reverend McShane also hopes to instill in the student body a sense of social responsibility. He seeks to engage students to both consider questions of civic involvement and to act on pressing social issues in their communities.
A New York City native, Rev. McShane entered the Jesuit order in 1967 after earning a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in English from Boston College. He subsequently earned a PhD in the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago, as well as a master’s of divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley.
McShane’s engagement in the field of higher education continued with faculty positions at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY, and at Fordham University’s theology department, before becoming president of the University of Scranton in 1998.
Reverend McShane’s Irish heritage is no doubt a factor in his involvement with Catholic institutions. Both of his paternal grandparents hailed from Ireland: his grandfather from McShane’s Cross, County Louth, and his grandmother from Crossmaglen, County Armagh. His heritage, his Jesuit background, and his commitment to socially engaged Catholic education will serve him well as he ushers Fordham University into a new era.
Caroline Kennedy
Supporting City Schools
She already has a famous name, but Caroline Kennedy has nonetheless made a name for herself. In 2003 she took on full-time responsibility for running the new Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education, raising money from the private sector to benefit the city’s ailing public schools. Continuing the Kennedy legacy of public service, Caroline Kennedy has spent the past 25 years as a quiet crusader for community causes.
After graduating from Radcliffe College, Kennedy spent five years working for the Metropolitan Museum of Art before earning a law degree from Columbia University. In 1989 she co-founded the Profiles in Courage Awards, celebrating politicians for making controversial and brave decisions for the public good. Her two bestselling books, The Right to Privacy and In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action, both considered the issues of constitutional rights and responsibilities, yet another way in which Kennedy has made an impact on American legal and political spheres.
Now comes a new challenge – education. As Chief Executive of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, Kennedy announced a major victory for public schools in 2003, when the Partnership for New York pledged $30 million for a principal training institute. Kennedy’s goals for the office include increasing partnerships with businesses, foundations, and volunteer programs. If this first gift is any indication, Caroline Kennedy is sure to make a world of difference for a generation of children who will know her not as JFK’s daughter, but as the woman who gave them a chance at a top-notch education.
Mary O’Herlihy
Teaching Peace
Mary O’Herlihy is the director of the Irish Institute at Boston College. The Irish Institute provides political, corporate and educational development and exchange programs with Ireland and Northern Ireland in an effort to promote the peace and normalization process on the island, contribute to cross-border cooperation there, and enhance mutual understanding between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the U.S.
An Irish native, O’Herlihy hails from County Cork. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and German and a master’s degree in English from the National University of Ireland, Cork. O’Herlihy is no stranger to Boston College. She first came to the school in 1995 as a recipient of a graduate fellowship in English and returned in 1998 for doctoral work.
Even though Ireland has experienced tremendous economic growth as a result of the Celtic Tiger, O’Herlihy feels the country’s societal needs have not diminished. The Institute is there to help meet these needs. “The opportunity for retreat and reflection, and the personal and professional connections made as a result of our exchange programs, are important in helping participants meet the needs of their constituents across all communities and sectors in Ireland upon their return home,” she says.
Previous programs sponsored by the Institute include the Northern Ireland Policing Program in which 20 senior officials in charge of monitoring the new Police Service of Northern Ireland came to Boston College for an intensive week-long course in community outreach, reconciliation, and community policing strategies and a program that brought members of the Coleraine Borough Council to Boston to study ways to improve city services and work alongside local administrations.
Ned O’Gorman
Dedicated Educator
Quietly tucked into a brownstone schoolhouse on 129th Street in Harlem, Ned O’Gorman continues what has been his everyday work for 36 years, teaching young children. Inconspicuous yet formidable, idealistic yet reliable, O’Gorman is a little-known hero in the lives of many of Harlem’s youth. His life has been lived in the service of others, but he seems satisfied rather than self-sacrificing, as though he is almost surprised to find himself in such a fortuitous situation. Each morning he opens the Ricardo O’Gorman Garden and Center at 6 a.m., and each morning the children file in, lucky to be in his care.
At 73 years old, O’Gorman has no intention of stepping down. When asked what he does when he’s not working, he says, “I never not work. I need to work 15 hours a day to stay sane. Retire? That’s just not a word in my vocabulary.”
O’Gorman earned a master’s degree from Columbia University, and began teaching at Iona College. His contract was abruptly cancelled in 1960, probably because of his involvement in peace demonstrations held by the students. In the mid-1960’s O’Gorman decided to get involved in the local community in Harlem in New York City, and he founded the Children’s Storefront, meant as a refuge for children, “where the senses of the children could thrive, or at the very least, exist.” One of his students was a boy named Ricardo, whom O’Gorman took under his wing and raised until Ricardo’s death in 1996. O’Gorman named the center on 129th Street after him.
It was a challenge from Harlem priest Jim Sugrue that led O’Gorman to establish the Storefront, and this drive to push himself farther and harder with each new undertaking seems to inform many of O’Gorman’s choices throughout his career.
He has published a number of books about his experiences in Harem as a teacher, including The Storefront, The Wilderness and the Laurel Tree, and Children are Dying. His identity as an education reformer is of great importance to him. O’Gorman, whose father’s father was born in Co. Clare, can count himself among the most important American innovators in early childhood education, and he has the distinction of putting his theory into practice on a daily basis.
With the state of education a national concern, Ned O’Gorman is easily one of the most influential and important people making a contribution to young lives. His methods are simple but revolutionary in their effectiveness – dedication to local children, a concern for holistic learning, and a willingness to see beyond the standardized model for education. But his most important intellectual world inhabits the charmingly decorated walls of West 129th Street, where children, with books open and hands raised,are eager to learn what their futures will hold now that Ned O’Gorman is a part of their lives.
–By Laura Farrell
Sean Ryan
Prize-Winning Student
Most people in their early thirties who win upwards of $125,000 prize money on television would buy a fancy car and go on an exotic vacation. Not Sean Ryan. The first person to win six games of the notoriously difficult Jeopardy, Ryan is using the funds so that he can finish his B.A. in history from Pennsylvania State College and his wife Jennifer can also get her college degree. The Ryans have two young daughters and Sean is happy to say, “Now we’ll be able to afford day care, so my wife and I will be able to go to school full time.”
How did he amass such wide-ranging knowledge to set a Jeopardy record? Ryan explains, “I read all the time and reading was a big part of my childhood. I went to museums when I could and I was reading constantly. I never watched much TV, I still don’t.” This kind of rigorous study made him a match for Alex Trebek, the host of Jeopardy. But he only has kind words for the hard-nosed host. “Alex is very nice, he’s a real professional and very business-like.”
Ryan is Irish on both sides of his family. His father’s side of the family (Ryans and Kavanaghs) came from County Kerry and Cork in the mid-1800s. His mother’s side of the family (Connollys and Daceys) came to America after 1916. Ryan’s great-grandfather Connolly came from Tuam, north of Galway City.
Jeffrey Ryan
National Treasure
Jeffrey Ryan is Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, but for his students he is the teacher of a lifetime. For 25 years Ryan has been inspiring students to think critically about both history and social responsibility. “The goal of any society should be to have a knowledgeable citizenry that is dedicated to productivity and peace,” he says. “Such an end begins with a well-informed and inspired youth.” It is the desire to create a new generation of committed citizens that fuels Ryan’s engagement with young people, but it is his love of teaching that keeps him in the classroom.
Ryan believes that a sound understanding of history is the key to inspiring social consciousness in students. Historian Howard Zinn’s assertion that “history is a matter of life and death” has become a credo for Ryan, who aims to bring this level of urgency to his classroom performance. “History is only dull when it is presented as remote and unapproachable,” Ryan asserts. “When students can see your connection to some historical thread, then the remoteness is dissolved and the period bursts to life in your classroom.”
Ryan is uniquely suited to both inspiring an interest in history and to awakening the social consciousness in his students. Having completed a PhD in History from Boston College, as well as a BA and an MA from Northeastern University, Ryan has earned many scholarly achievements. A member of the American Historical Society since 1985, he has published numerous papers in journals such as Harvard Ukranian Studies and the Episcopal Times. In addition to scholarly activities, Ryan has also had enormous success as an educator. In 2001 he was included in Who’s Who in American Education, and in 2002 he was awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the University of Richmond for “contributions made to the educational preparations of high school students.” In 2003 Ryan accepted “the most extraordinary honor” of his career when he was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year.
Despite all the accolades, Ryan values his students the most. As a beloved teacher at Reading Memorial High School in Reading, Massachusetts, Ryan has taught many of the most rigorous history courses offered by the school, including Advanced Placement European History, Honors United States History, and Honors World Issues, all with enthusiasm and spirit that are all too often lacking in history education. The key to teaching high school students, he says, is “a little nerve and a willingness to embarrass yourself in public.”
Ryan has often taken his teaching out of the classroom and into the global community. In 1998 he joined a delegation of American teachers for a conference in Cuba that promoted cross-cultural understanding between American and Cuban educators. Ryan also marked a highlight of his career in 2001 when he led a group of students on a trip to Lima, Peru, where his students tutored children in Peruvian shantytowns. Ryan also serves as faculty advisor for the RMHS chapter of Amnesty International, encouraging students to be active in social justice both in their own community and in the world, a philosophy which is linked to his love of teaching.
Social awareness has long been a part of Ryan’s life. A life long pacifist, Ryan, who is Irish on his father’s side, views Irish activists like Daniel O’Connell as the forerunner of modern nonviolent civil disobedience, and owes his political stance to “the antiauthoritarianism of the Irish.” “I don’t support the imperialism of anyone,” he says. “I’ve always been proud to have been an ancestral thorn in the backside of the British Empire.”
“I teach for many reasons,” Ryan says, “but the primary one is that education is the way that society perpetuates itself. Cultures transmit their tradition, beliefs, and knowledge through the school. This places an immense responsibility on the teacher who has the potential to have a profound and permanent impact on the children in his charge.”
– By Laura Farrell
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