Sr.

Janet Eisner

SND
EducationEmmanuel College AB, 1963

Boston College MA

University of Michigan PhD
OccupationCollege President
TitleEmmanuel College President
Term1979-2022
PredecessorSr. Mary Frances McCarthy, SND
SuccessorTBA
Board member ofColleges of the Fenway

The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

St. Sebastian's School, Needham MA

Sr. Janet Eisner is the President Emerita of Emmanuel College.[1] During her presidency, she was the longest currently serving female president of a college in the United States, as well as the longest-serving president of a Catholic college or university between 1979 and 2022.[2] She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1958.[3][2]

Biography

Education

Eisner graduated from high school in Lynn, Massachusetts at St. Mary's High School. She then earned her bachelor's degree in English at Emmanuel College, a master's degree from Boston College, and a PhD from University of Michigan.[2]

Role as president

Eisner was Emmanuel College's 12th president. She filled the role in September 1979 after serving as acting president in 1978.[4] Prior to becoming president, Eisner served as a faculty member and a director of admissions at Emmanuel College.[2]

During Eisner's tenure in the late 1980s and 1990s, the college's enrollment reached perilously low levels. In the early 2000s, Eisner oversaw decisions that helped increase the college's enrollment and avoid its closure [5] through what she has called a series of "calculated risks."[2] Specifically, in 2001, Emmanuel College welcomed its first coed class and also leased land to Merck in 2001, which improved and stabilized college finances due to steady income from having a private pharmaceutical research facility on campus.[6][7] Although ending the college’s status as a women’s college was controversial, that decision, the Merck partnership, and other initiatives in the 2000 decade helped save the once-struggling college,[6][7][8] tripling enrollments over 15 years.[9]

Eisner has since been dubbed the "second founder" of Emmanuel College for these accomplishments, which reversed the course of her leadership and assured the college's future.[5][10][11][2]

Service

Eisner has served on the boards or executive committees of the Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization; the Colleges of the Fenway (Boston); The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC); and Saint John's Seminary (Brighton, MA), among others.[2] 

Honors Received

  • Honorary Doctorates: Northeastern University (1984),[12] Boston College (2005),[13] and the College of the Holy Cross (2013) [14] have conferred honorary doctorates upon Eisner. 
  • Cheverus Award: The Archdiocese of Boston named Eisner as one of its 134 Cheverus Award recipients in 2017. The award recognizes parishioners (typically laypeople) who have been nominated by their parish pastor for service and whose nomination has been supported by their regional bishop or episcopal vicar and the cardinal.[15]
  • Carolyn and Peter Lynch Award: In 2022, Eisner received the Catholic Schools Foundation's the Carolyn and Peter Lynch award,[16] bestowed annually "to individuals or organizations making a transformational difference in the lives of its more than 4,000 yearly scholarship recipients."[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2022-09-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "At The Helm-Featured Profile SP2022-Eisner". www.accunet.org. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  3. ↑ kiracostello (2019-12-24). "Sr. Janet Eisner". Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  4. ↑ "Sr. Janet Eisner, SND, Presidential Inauguration Collection". Emmanuel College Archives. Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  5. 1 2 Farragher, Thomas (May 19, 2019). "Sister Janet Eisner has been the heart and soul of Emmanuel College — for 40 years - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-19. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  6. 1 2 Schworm, Peter (2007-12-01). "College finds its angel". Boston.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  7. 1 2 www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass-high-tech/2003/11/a-productive-pair-2003-11-24.html. Retrieved 2022-09-27. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Facts". centennial.emmanuel.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-05-15. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  9. ↑ "Emmanuel College honors Sister Janet Eisner for her 40 years of leadership – Bill Brett". Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  10. ↑ "Sister Janet Eisner to step down as Emmanuel College president in 2022". www.thebostonpilot.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  11. ↑ ""Second Founder" of Emmanuel College | Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur". 2020-02-12. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  12. ↑ Frederick, Antoinette (1995). Northeastern University: Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989 (PDF). Beckwith Bookworks. p. 334.
  13. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Awarded by Boston College, 1955-2006" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  14. ↑ "2013 Honorary Degree Citation". College of the Holy Cross. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  15. ↑ "2017 Cheverus Award Recipients | Archdiocese of Boston". www.bostoncatholic.org. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  16. ↑ "32nd Annual Celebration". www.csfboston.org. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  17. ↑ "Catholic Schools Foundation to honor Catholic school teachers for COVID leadership". www.thebostonpilot.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
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