educator, women’s rights activist; b. Chicago, Dec. 30, 1926.

After receiving her B.A. in history from Alverno College in 1948 and her M.A. in history from Fordham University, Sister Read went on to serve as the sixth and longest-serving president of Alverno College. Her 35-year tenure (1968-2003) is believed to have made her the longest-sitting college president in U.S. history. Read joined the School Sisters of Saint Francis in 1942. With Sister Austin Doherty, she presided over the college’s curriculum reform, implementing an abilities-based curriculum. The success of the new curriculum became the focus of many studies and gained Alverno an international reputation for innovation in higher education. Sister Read retired from her position as president of Alverno College in 2003, but has remained active in education reform working with the Milwaukee Public School system.

Sister Read led the implementation of the first weekend college program in Wisconsin. She was recognized often for her work in higher education, including the Pope John XXIII Award (Viterbo, 1977), the Anne Roe Award (Harvard, 1980), the Morris T. Keeton Award (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, 1992), the Lifetime Leadership Award (Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership, 2000), and the Reverand Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC Award (Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, 2012). She holds numerous honorary doctorates.

Sister Read was also a prominent leader in the American women’s movement, beginning in the 1960s. She attended the 1966 National Organization for Women (NOW) conference in Washington, D.C. and was elected to the national board. She was named a presidential appointee to the United States Commission for the Celebration of International Women’s Year in 1975-56.

Sources: Sharing a Century: The First Hundred Years of Teaching at Alverno; Love, Barbara J. Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975; Sister Joel Read, “We all have a stake in MPS.” Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin Business News, 2008 (www.biztimes.com/news/2008/4/4/we-all-have-a-stake-in-mps); Stanek, Mary Ellen. “Sister Joel Read, S.S.S.F. University Honors: Marquette University" (Honorary Degree Recipient, May 18, 2003; www.marquette.edu/universityhonors/honors_read.shtml). Wisconsin Women’s Network: 1960’s Chronology of Recent Highlights of Wisconsin’s Women’s Movement (1962-1977) (http://wiwomensnetwork.org/resources/publications/chronone1).

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[Source: Submitted by Nicole Vielleux of Alverno College. See citations above.]