Dominican Sisters Stories

Educator
Sister Sharon Weber, OP, PhD

With the exception of the six-year term she served as Vicaress of the Congregation, Sister Sharon Weber’s ministry has been focused on higher education for more than four decades.

The holder of a PhD in chemistry from the University of Michigan, Sister Sharon was on the chemistry faculty at Siena Heights University for many years, and for a time also served as chairperson of the division, before becoming the university’s academic dean. For several years, she held the dual responsibilities of academic dean and vice president for academic affairs before focusing solely on the latter position. In that capacity, she oversees the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Professional Studies, and the Graduate College. 

Educator
Sister Mariane Fahlman, OP, PhD

Promoting health and physical activity has long been Sister Mariane’s calling. As a professor and coordinator of health education at Wayne State University, she works with undergraduates who are learning how to teach health and physical education and with graduate students who are health professionals.

Her research interests include the effects of exercise on the elderly (funded by the National Institutes of Health) and nutrition research in the Detroit Public Schools (funded by grants from the Michigan Nutrition Network).

Sister Mariane’s honors include the Vern Seefeldt Lifetime Achievement Award; the Wayne State University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; and the Michigan Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s University Educator of the Year award.
 

A Voice for the Earth
Sister Pat Siemen, OP, JD

Serving as a voice to recognize the inherent rights of all creation has become Sister Pat’s primary work as director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence at the Barry University School of Law.

A civil attorney who holds a juris doctorate from Northeastern University, Sister Pat’s early ministries included being a community organizer in rural Tennessee, where she assisted disenfranchised African-Americans, and working in parish ministry with the Latino community.

She has also been a legal services attorney for migrant workers in south Florida; a staff attorney for the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice; and director of the Earth Ethics Institute at Miami Dade College.