Newswise — Robert M. D'Alessandri, M.D., president and dean of The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC), will be the guest speaker when Misericordia University hosts its 83rd annual Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m. in the Anderson Sports and Health Center on campus. A baccalaureate Mass will precede the ceremony at 10:30 a.m.
During the commencement ceremony, Misericordia will present Dr. D'Alessandri with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree. The institution will also bestow the Catherine McAuley Medal on Sister Cecilia Meighan '58, RSM, Ed.D., J.D., the former director of Planned Giving in University Advancement, and director and foundress of the renowned Institute of Law and Religious Life at MU, in recognition of her significant service to Misericordia University and the values to which it aspires.
Sister Cecilia began her religious life as a Sister of Mercy and her collegiate career in 1951 as a postulant at Misericordia. She holds a bachelor's degree in music and English with a minor in German from Misericordia, a master's degree in English from the University of Scranton, a doctorate in administration of higher education from Columbia University and a Jurist Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center. Sister Cecilia was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States in 2005.
Sister Cecilia is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, and is of counsel to the Kingston law firm of Gallagher, Brennan and Gill. She was president of Mount Aloysius College, Cresson, Pa., and later returned to Misericordia to serve 17 years as a valued member of the Board of Trustees and as a faculty member, teaching law courses in the organizational management master's degree program.
Misericordia University honored her dedicated and untiring service to this institution last year when the Board of Trustees announced in June that the University renamed the annual workshop, which she founded, the Cecilia Meighan, RSM Institute of Law and Religious Life, in her honor. The 16th annual Cecilia Meighan, RSM Institute of Law and Religious Life will be held June 4-10 at Misericordia.
Dr. D'Alessandri leads Pennsylvania's newest medical school. TCMC is scheduled to open in 2009 and expects to accept 60 medical students and 30 Master of Biomedical Sciences students. The goal of the school is to increase the number of physicians in Northeastern Pennsylvania. During the next 20 years, the new medical school is expected to add 425 qualified, diverse practicing physicians to the region, according to TCMC.
Prior to being named TCMC's president and dean, Dr. D'Alessandri was the vice president for health sciences at West Virginia University and president of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute. A specialist in infectious diseases and general medicine, he is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Dr. D'Alessandri has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University and his Doctor of Medicine degree from New York Medical College. He completed postgraduate training at Metropolitan Hospital in New York and the University of Florida. He joined the West Virginia University faculty in 1977 and served as dean of the School of Medicine from 1989 to 2004.
Dr. D'Alessandri has long been active in health policy issues nationally and in West Virginia. He is a frequent speaker on the subjects of health policy, workforce issues, rural health, Alzheimer's disease research and the future of health care. Dr. D'Alessandri works closely with elected officials and policymakers to improve access to health care in the United States. He was the recipient of the West Virginian of the Year Award.
In the 1990s, together with U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, he developed the concept of an independent national research center with the mission of developing new means of diagnosing and treating Alzheimer's disease. His tireless work toward the goal energized West Virginia University leaders, private-sector researchers and donors, and political officials, which led to the creation of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute.
For more information about Misericordia University, please call (570) 674-6400 or log on to www.misericordia.edu.
Founded and Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, Misericordia University is Luzerne County's first four-year college and offers 31 academic majors on the graduate and undergraduate levels in full and part-time formats.
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