Jubilarians: Sister Margaret McHugh, RSM; Sister Maria Cordis Richey, RSM

Sister Margaret McHugh, RSM
75 Years


Sister Maria Cordis Richey, RSM
75 Years

The daughter of Joseph and Florence Richey, Mercy Sister Maria Cordis Richey was born and raised in Princeton. She attended the town’s St. Paul School and Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, both staffed by the Sisters of Mercy. She earned an associate’s degree from Georgian Court College, now University, Lakewood, and entered the religious order in 1950.

Sister Maria continued her education at Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y., earning master’s and doctoral degrees in medieval and Renaissance literature. Meanwhile, she taught for five years in St. Mary High School, Perth Amboy.

Her assignment to Georgian Court College in 1957 began her collegial teaching ministry, which lasted more than five decades. She became a professor and chair of the English department, a position she held for 33 years; in 1974, she was appointed president of the Mercy-run university.

During her six-year tenure as head of the university, Sister Maria led the establishment of its first master’s degree programs. She also initiated the GCU’s co-educational evening undergraduate programs. Under her direction, several new majors were approved by accreditors.

Sister Maria is well known for her poetry; her work has appeared in literary reviews and magazines for many years in the United States, Ireland and New Zealand. She is also an accomplished gardener who specializes in roses.

Following her term as president, Sister Maria continued to teach courses in the English department until her 2011 retirement to Gabriel Hall at Mount Saint Mary.

Georgian Court University continues to recognize their former leader: they granted Sister Maria an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at the 2016 undergraduate exercises, and during the fall of last year, the university christened the new Sister Maria Cordis Richey Center for the Humanities and Creative Arts at Georgian Court University. It serves as a vibrant hub for the humanities and creative arts, elevating their profile throughout the university; offers undergraduate students support and resources for research, creative projects, and experiential learning opportunities, and coordinates support for faculty teaching and research, fostering collaboration across disciplines and within the humanities and creative arts.

Compiled by Christina Leslie, contributing editor, with information contributed by Mercy Sister Patricia Kenny.