Former Molloy president dies

By Alex Costello

acostello@liherald.com

Sister Janet Fitzgerald, the longest-serving president of Molloy College, died on Dec. 1. She was 78.

She served as president of Molloy from 1972 until 1996. During her tenure, the school added new buildings and became co-ed, doubling the student population. The school also added new degree programs.

“She was very a very competent, very able and very gracious woman,” said Sister Mary Hughes, a friend and colleague.

Fitzgerald was born in 1935 to Robert Fitzgerald and Lillian Shannon in Woodside. She attended St. Teresa’s School in Woodside and the Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School in Brooklyn. She had joined the Sisters of St. Dominic in 1953 and took her vows on Aug. 8, 1955. She attended St. John’s University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1965 with a B.A. in mathematics as the valedictorian. She chose to continue her studies at St. John’s University while working and earned a master’s in the philosophy of science in 1967 and went on to receiver her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1971.

After her graduation from college, Fitzgerald began her career of teaching, spending 18 years teaching at all levels of schooling. She taught at St. Ignatius Loyola in Hicksville, St. Thomas Apostle in Woodhaven, Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School in Brooklyn and, in 1969, started her career at Molloy College as a professor of philosophy.

On Sept. 6, 1972, the college’s Board of Trustees elected Fitzgerald the school’s fourth president, and she began her duties on Oct. 2 that year. While acting as president, Fitzgerald continue to teach a philosophy class.

“She always taught, which was very important,” Hughes said. “It kept her in close contact with students. And I think, for that reason, she never forgot how hard it was for them. How many sacrifices they made, how most of them were working one or two jobs while they went to college. So she had great compassion for students.”

During her 24-year tenure as president of Molloy, the college underwent many institutional changes that helped shape its future. In a time when many small colleges were closing, Molloy added three new buildings: the Wilbur Arts Center, the Sacred Heart Chapel, and the William J. Casey Center.