Antoinette Rodez Schiesler

Antoinette Rodez Schiesler (December 13, 1934 – April 8, 1996) was an African-American chemist and Director of Research at Villanova University. She was also a former Roman Catholic nun and Episcopal priest.

Early life

Carole Virginia Rodez was born in Chicago, and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, by her mother Gladyce Cunningham Rodez.[1] At twelve, she was enrolled as a boarder at St. Frances Academy, a Catholic girls' school for "colored girls" run by the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Inspired by her teachers, she decided on a religious life, and became "Sister Mary Antoinette" in 1955. As a nun, she earned a BA degree in 1967, and taught elementary school. She earned a master's degree in chemistry in 1969 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a thesis titled "The Inactivation of Pancreatic Lipase by Gamma Radiation".[2] In 1971, she left the religious order to pursue a career in chemistry.[3][4]

Career

Antoinette "Toni" Schiesler taught astronomy at Bowie State College,[5] before she returned to graduate school to earn a PhD in chemical education at University of Maryland, College Park.[6] Schiesler also held positions with the Maryland State Board of Higher Education, with the National Science Foundation, and at Eastern Michigan University, before becoming director of research at Villanova University.[7]

Her last job before retiring from academic life was as academic dean at Cabrini College. While at Cabrini, Dr. Schiesler was ordained as an Episcopal deacon in 1994, and served as associate to the dean at the Cathedral of St. John in Wilmington, Delaware. She also served on the executive board of the Episcopal Women's Caucus, and on the executive council of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware.[8]

Personal life

Mary Antoinette Rodez married Robert Alan "Bob" Schiesler (b. 1949), a white Episcopal priest, in 1973. She died suddenly from a brain tumor in 1996, age 61.[9]

Legacy

Since 1996 there has been an M. Antoinette Schiesler Memorial scholarship at Cabrini College, sponsored by her family, reserved for African-American or Hispanic-American women students in education.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Elnora A. Butler, "Connecticut," The Afro-American (18 October 1941): p. 19
  2. ↑ Sister Mary Antoinette Rodez, (O. S. P.), "The Inactivation of Pancreatic Lipase by Gamma Radiation" (University of Tennessee 1968).
  3. ↑ Mary Ellen Verheyden-Hilliard, Scientist and Administrator, Antoinette Rodez Schiesler (Equity Institute 1985). (for young readers)
  4. ↑ Jeannette Brown, African American Women Chemists (Oxford University Press 2012): 60-66.
  5. ↑ Blaine Taylor, "Oblate Sister Leaves Order, Still Teaches," Baltimore Afro-American (August 1, 1972): p. 14
  6. ↑ Mary Antoinette Schiesler, "Locus-of-Control and Academic Achievement in Remedial Chemistry" (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, UMI Dissertations Publishing 1977).
  7. ↑ Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation (Addison-Wesley Publications 1994): 197-223.
  8. ↑ "Obituary, M. Antoinette Schiesler", The Living Church 212(19)(12 May 1996).
  9. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #24785329, M. Antoinette Schiesler (1934-1996).
  10. ↑ Cabrini College website: Scholarships
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