Carlow University’s December Commencement will take place on Friday, December 12, at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall.
| University Communications | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | December 04, 2014 |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
Dr. Karen Schneider, Pediatrician and Sister of Mercy, Will Be Commencement Speaker
Pittsburgh,Pa. – Karen Schneider, RSM, MD, a pediatrician and a Sister of Mercy, will be the commencement speaker for CarlowUniversity’s December Commencement ceremony on Friday, December 12, 2014, at 7p.m. in Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland. Dr. Schneider will receive an honorary doctorate from Carlow during the ceremony.
Serving a dual call as both aSister of Mercy and a doctor of pediatric medicine, Dr. Schneider, who serves as a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, MD, and as an assistant professor of pediatrics, specializing in pediatric emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University, has dedicated her life to improving the lives of children in the United States, as well as in developing countries worldwide.
Dr.Schneider is creator and director of Johns Hopkins University’s PediatricTropical Medicine Elective. Each year, she facilitates and supervises two 4-week clinical experiences in locations such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guyana, Kenya, and Nigeria. Depending upon the country and the need, she builds a team that includes residents, nurses, surgeons, physicians, and medical specialists.Together they work to bridge cultural barriers, providing pediatric care and education and coordinating the shipment of greatly-needed medicines and supplies. In addition, Sister Karen has also supervised clinical workin Belize, Guatemala, Kosovo, Peru, South Korea, and Uganda. [A complete biography of Dr. Schneider is attached at the end of this press release.]
Dr. Schneider will be addressing more than 200 graduates from bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs atCarlow University. Students who fulfilled their requirements for graduation in either August or December are eligible to walk at commencement in December. The total number of degrees being awarded is 292 (138 from August and154 from December), and 94 of those degrees will be bachelor’s degrees. Of the remaining 198, 194 master’s degrees will be awarded and four doctoral degrees. Of course, not everyone who is eligible to walk in the commencement ceremony will elect to do so.
In keeping with Carlow’s tradition, the commencement ceremony will be preceded by a Baccalaureate Mass at 4 p.m. in the St. Agnes Center of Carlow University, the former St. AgnesChurch, which is located on Fifth Avenue between Craft Avenue and RobinsonStreet. The Most Reverend David Zubik, Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh will celebrate the Mass.
### About CarlowUniversity
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters ofMercy in 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, CarlowUniversity is a comprehensive master’s institution dedicated to learner-centered education at the collegiate levels and at the elementary school level in the Campus School of Carlow University.
Biography for Dr. Karen Schneider, SM
Dr. Karen Schneider serves a dual call as both a Sister of Mercy and a doctor of pediatric medicine, improving the lives of children in the United States, as well in developing countries worldwide.
A pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland, Sister Karen is also assistant professor of pediatrics specializing in pediatric emergency medicine at JohnsHopkins University.
Born and raised in Long Island,New York, Sister Karen was called to the Sisters of Mercy as a teen and received her Bachelor of Science degree in secondary mathematics education from Molloy College in 1984. She spent her early years teaching high school, and then decided to follow an additional calling: to practice medicine. She went onto receive her Doctor of Medicine degree from the State University of New York,Brooklyn in 1996, and her Master in Public Health degree from Johns HopkinsUniversity in 2008, with a concentration in international health.
Sister Karen is creator and director of Johns Hopkins University’s Pediatric TropicalMedicine Elective. Each year, she facilitates and supervises two 4-week clinical experiences in locations such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti,Guyana, Kenya, and Nigeria. Depending upon the country and the need, she builds a team that includes residents, nurses, surgeons, physicians, and medical specialists.Together they work to bridge cultural barriers, providing pediatric care and education and coordinating the shipment of greatly-needed medicines and supplies. In addition, Sister Karen has also supervised clinical workin Belize, Guatemala, Kosovo, Peru, South Korea, and Uganda.
Over the years, Sister Karen has secured major grant funding totaling more than $500,000 that has supported the establishment of laboratories and clinics in these developing countries, provided funding for pediatric surgeries and anemia assessment and eradication, and offered financial assistance for international medical travel expenses.
Sister Karen is a member of Johns Hopkins Disaster Preparedness Committee, Pediatric Division andAdult Emergency Department, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical EthicsCommittee and Consultation Service. She is medical course director forPediatric Education for Pre-hospital Professionals (PEPP), and serves on thePEPP Emergency Medical Services Maryland Steering Committee. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and the Pediatric Academic Society. Her many honors include the 2008 Mercy GalaAward for outstanding service to the economically poor; the 2005 CunninghamAward (chosen from 7,000 nominees), honoring creation of the Pediatric TropicalMedicine Elective and service to economically disadvantaged children; and the1999 Morris Krosnick Award for Outstanding Resident at Yale Children’sHospital.
Sister Karen’s tireless efforts have gained the attention of the national media. She has been featured on CBS News and CNN, as well as in the NationalCatholic Reporter. In 2010, she was named “Person of the Week” byWashington D.C. area ABC news affiliate, WJLA.
“My reason for doing these trips is twofold, to serve poor children and to open the eyes of the fortunate to the less fortunate,” she noted in a January 2014 NationalCatholic Reporter interview. “I long to make people a little more aware that children are suffering and that with just a little bit of money or as mall intervention, their lives can be changed.”