Barbara Doherty

Who is Barbara Doherty?

Sister Barbara Doherty, S.P., is an educator and theologian. A Roman Catholic nun, she is a member of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. She was president of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana from 1984-1998. Other posts have been as director of the Institute of Religious Formation at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, president of the Indiana Conference of Higher Education, and on national boards of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Women's College Coalition.

Doherty attended Providence High School in Chicago, where she met the Sisters of Providence. After graduation, she entered the Sisters of Providence novitiate in 1951. In 1953 she professed final vows and took the religious name of Sister Vincent Ferrer.

Doherty has a bachelor's degree in Latin, English and history from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, a Master's degree in Sacred Doctrine from Saint Mary's College and a doctorate in Theology from Fordham University. She has also received honorary doctor of letters degrees from Indiana State University and Dominican University.

During the 1940s and 50s, Doherty worked with the Friendship House and on Chicago's Skid Row. In 1963 she began work with the formation of new sisters in her congregation, and in 1964 she was named Mistress of Postulants. In this role she helped guide the congregation through the transitions required for women religious by the Second Vatican Council.