Excellence in Spiritual Leadership

Sister Margaret Thomas McGovern O.P., Ph.D ‘61

Sister Margaret Thomas McGovern, O.P., Ph.D., one of the most highly honored members of the Caldwell Dominicans, graduating in the class of 1961 from Caldwell College. In all of her achievements, Sister Margaret Thomas is open, personal and humble.

Sister’s academic credentials include study of Business Administration at Pace College, New York City, and a B.S. from Caldwell College; Community Management from Notre Dame University; an MA in Theology from Providence College, Rhode Island; and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Santa Barbara, California.  She was also awarded a Doctor of Education Honoris Causa from Caldwell College.

Sister Margaret Thomas served Caldwell College as Registrar, Dean of Admissions and President of the Board of Trustees.  She served the Caldwell Dominicans as Secretary General, First Counselor and Major Superior. Sister has served Catholic Education as a grade school teacher in St. Aloysius, Caldwell; St. Brigid’s, North Bergen; St. John’s, Clark; Ascension, New Milford; St. Mary’s, Rahway; Our Lady of the Lake, Verona; Mount St. Dominic, Caldwell; Director of Counseling at Trinity Academy, Caldwell; and Counselor, Student Development Center, Caldwell College. Sister was also a Pastoral Associate at St. Matthew’s Parish, Ridgefield.

Honored by Pope John Paul II with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Award presented by Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, Sister Margaret Thomas has been a member of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Dominican Leadership Conference, the New Jersey Bishops’ Planning Committee, the Board of Directors of Emmaus House, Bethlehem Center for Prayer and Spirituality, Chester, New Jersey and Genesis Farm, Blairstown, New Jersey and Advisory Council of the Dominican Collaborative Novitiate, St. Louis, Missouri.  Currently, Sister serves on the Archdiocesan Commission of Women, Board of Overseers at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, the Theological Commission of the Archdiocese of Newark, the Advisory Board of Resurrection School, Jersey City, and currently, Delegate for Religious in the Archdiocese of Newark.

Excellence in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Operations

Mary E. Reilly ‘52

Mary E. Reilly, known as Mariette, started her prestigious career at Hoffmann-La Roche In, Nutley, immediately after graduating from Caldwell with an AB in Chemistry and minors in mathematics and biology.  She spent her entire career at Hoffmann-La Roche where her professional focus for several years was on responsibility for regulatory submissions to the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA is the federal agency charged with the responsibility of reviewing and approving original and supplemental new drug applications for pharmaceutical products, as well as other mandated submissions and reports for investigational and marked drug products.  Mariette’s efforts concentrated on domestic and international chemistry, manufacturing, control and labeling aspects of drug development, production and marketing, with a special emphasis on products produced in Puerto Rico. She has extensive experience in Quality Control supported by academic and professional experience in analytical chemical research and development.

Mariette pursued advanced study at Seton Hall University, at Rutgers University for Professional Advancement, at the Technical Writers’ Institute of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and in professional courses offered through Hoffmann-La Roche.  Elected to Kappa Gamma Pi and Delta Epsilon Sigma upton graduation, Mariette is an emeritus member of the American Chemical Society and Sigma Xi. She was previously active in the Roche Research Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society, and Drug Information Association.

As a Notre Dame, North Caldwell, New Jersey parishioner, Mariette was a member of the Parish Council and the Notre Dame School Board of Trustees.  She was a founder and Chair of the Notre Dame Blood Bank, a core team member of RENEW, the first woman lector at the parish, and serves as a Eucharistic minister.  She also served on the Leadership Board of Sacred Heart School, Lyndhurst, New Jersey. In 2002, Mariette began a term on the Board of Trustees at Lacordaire Academy, Montclair, New Jersey.

Caldwell College has consistently depended upon Mariette’s critical thinking skills, beginning with the Alumnae Catholic School Study in the 1960s and culminating with seventeen years on the Veritas Executive Committee.  A founding member of Veritas, Mariette developed the criteria for this professional award. Mariette has received other honors from Caldwell College, including the Marian Award and Alumna of the Year.

Excellence in Foreign Language Education

Elaine Vertucci Baran ‘66

Elaine Vertucci Baran, Professor of the Modern Language Department and Director of International Education at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, was awarded the Veritas Award posthumously.

Elaine earned a master’s degree from Montclair State University, New Jersey.  She also had additional graduate credits from Princeton University and Rutgers University both in New Jersey.  The Experiment in International Living, the Instituto de Filología Hispánica in Mexico, The University of Maine, West Virginia University, and Ohio State University at Lyon, France.  She graduated from Caldwell College with a BA in French, Spanish and Secondary Education. Through graduate study, Elaine added a proficiency in Italian which allowed her to lead groups to all three countries under The Experiment in International Living.  Elaine published three texts with cassette tapes in Italian for the Modern Spoken Italian series.

An instructor of the SUNY Language Immersion Program at New Paltz, New York, Elaine was also a member of the Chaplain’s School instructional team at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and Newsletter Editor for the New Jersey Council for Global International Education. The honoree had received five grants and fellowships for research and had made more than 30 professional presentations throughout the Northeast, including at the National Conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language in Washington, D.C.

An active office holder in the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ), Elaine was president in 1990-92 and at the time of her death in 1995 was president of the New Jersey Collegiate Consortium for International/Intercultural Education.  She received the Outstanding Faculty Award from Brookdale Community College and the Professional Award for Outstanding Achievement in Foreign Language Education from her peers in FLENJ.

Married to Carl Baran for 20 years, Elaine had three children, Cara, Jonathon and Therese.  She had been active in St. Mary’s, Colts Neck, New Jersey since 1973 (especially as a catechist) and in the music program, where she sang and directed the children’s choir and children’s musicals.

As a volunteer, Elaine assisted the Wanamassa Grande School Foreign Language Program, the Monmouth Council of Girl Scouts, the Monmouth County Library System Salute to Italian Language & Culture and the Mercy Center, Asbury Park, New Jersey.