Religion & Law

I join with my former colleagues at St. John's University School of Law, and with her many other friends and academic colleagues in mourning the death of Dean Mary Daly.

I've tried twice to link to the St. John's press release without success.  So following is the statement of St. John's University President Donald Harrington:

"Our University community is saddened by the death of Mary C. Daly, Esq., Dean of the School of Law and John V. Brennan Professor of Law and Ethics. Since coming to St. John?s in 2004 from Fordham, where she served as James H. Quinn Professor of Law, Director of the Graduate Program, and co-Director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics, she has been an energetic and effective leader. We shall miss her presence among us and will be forever grateful for all that she has been and done for us.



"Her impact on the School of Law has been nothing short of transformative. She established a global focus within the School through the creation of new academic programs and initiatives. Among these was the L.L.M. program in U.S. Legal Studies for Foreign Law School Graduates, launched in fall of 2008, that provides opportunities for lawyers from other nations to achieve a grounding in the United States legal system. Another is a program that permits St. John?s Law School students to spend a summer studying in Rome. She also increased the number of law clinics, which provide students with invaluable opportunities for both practical experience and service to underserved individuals within the community.



"She infused within the faculty a desire to enhance their scholarly and professional development activities. And she did so by example. An accomplished and prolific scholar with a national and international reputation,  she published widely in law journals and also authored several books. In addition, she broke ground through her expertise in the emerging discipline of transnational ethics, a field which has assumed increasing prominence with mergers among Asian, American, and European law firms to form a truly global legal community.



"Her outreach to alumni was extraordinarily effective. She traveled throughout the country, hosting receptions and other meetings designed to keep graduates abreast of activities at their alma mater.  And she increased gifts to the School of Law substantially during her tenure as Dean.



"I know that members of our University community will want to share their memories of Dean Daly, to come together to remember her at the prayer service slated for next Tuesday, and to pray with her family at the wake and at the funeral service which we will hold on campus on a date that will be announced soon. I am sure I speak for all of us in extending our deepest sympathy to her family as well as our appreciation to them for sharing her with us. St. John?s is a stronger and better University because she was part of it."



Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M.

President, St. John?s University