Professor to Receive Distinguished Alumni Award

Detroit, Michigan—August 30, 2004—Sister Ann Gabriel Kilsdonk will receive the Marygrove College Distinguished Alumni Award, on Friday, September 17, 2004, at 7 p.m. for a lifetime of outstanding contributions. The ceremony will take place in the college’s newly renovated theatre. Marygrove is located at 8425 W. McNichols Road, Detroit, Michigan.

Long before words like "ecology" and "sustainability" became popular, Sister Ann Gabriel Kilsdonk was teaching others to use their talents and the gifts of the earth.

Kilsdonk has taught in the department of family and consumer sciences (a.k.a. home economics and human ecology) at Marygrove College since 1958. Concurrently, she headed the department for 25 years and chaired the division of professional studies for nearly 20 years.

In 1975 she received the prestigious Ellen H. Richards Fellowship from the American Home Economics Association. That same year she received the Marie Dye Scholarship from the Michigan Home Economics Association. Both awards helped finance her doctoral degree in family ecology. She received her master's degree and PhD from Michigan State University.

Kilsdonk's published monograph, "Human Ecology: Meaning and Usage", which was well received throughout the United States, Canada and Japan, resulted in her being named one of 100 Outstanding Alumni of the College of Human Ecology at Michigan State University during their centennial celebration.

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Kilsdonk credits Marygrove College with teaching her to think logically and analytically, which has served her well in her career. She made lasting friends through her participation in the So Bheas Club, later serving as faculty adviser to the club from 1964 to 1998.

Kilsdonk resides in Detroit, Michigan.

The Marygrove College Distinguished Alumni Awards were established in 2002 to recognize and honor alumni of distinction. These awards celebrate the college’s ideals of competence, commitment and compassion. Other recipients are Mary Ellen Hanlon Riordan ’41; Khris Nedam ‘98; Elsa Potter ’60; Elizabeth Fischer Richards ’64; Mary Massaron Ross ’82; and Angela Celeste May ’90. # # #