Dr Maura Mast, Professor of Mathematics and former Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, visited St. Mary’s University College as part of her research into international Catholic Higher Education.  Dr Mast is exploring what leaders in the U.S. need to know about how colleagues with the shared  mission of Catholic education are navigating the challenges and opportunities of our times; how Catholic Higher Education can better collaborate to strengthen mission and identity; and how our institutions are agents of hope, justice, dialogue, and reconciliation.  Dr Mast started her work by participating in the Association of Jesuit Universities Assembly in Bogotá last summer, at which Fr Sosa, the Superior General of the Society, urged the Jesuit universities to meet the signs of our times and called for Catholic higher education institutions to be rooted in identity and charism and to be witnesses for hope. Dr Mast then visited Notre Dame Australia in October 2025 and spent over three weeks in India visiting 18 Jesuit institutions.  Her approach is somewhat inspired by the recent Synod on Synodality, with its emphasis on communion, participation, and mission. She is taking the time to be present at the various institutions and to talk with — and listen to — students, academic staff, and leaders and is grateful for the generosity and openness that she has encountered in these meetings.

At St Mary’s University College she met with St Mary’s Principal Prof Peter Finn and key members of staff in relation to gaining an understanding of the College ethos the importance of service learning. Dr Mast also meet with the Principal of St Malachy’s College Deirdre McCusker as well as Laura Leonard and Frances Murray from the International office at Belfast City Council. There was also an opportunity for Dr Mast to visit Stormont for a seminar on ‘Diversity & Religious Education’.  

Dr Mast is on a research leave this year after spending 10 years as dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, an undergraduate liberal arts college of about 4000 students that is part of Fordham University in New York City.  In addition to her academic leadership work, she played a role in the development of Fordham’s London Centre, worked with faculty on short-term study abroad courses, and oversaw a community engaged learning program in Pretoria, South Africa.  As someone who has dual citizenship (Irish and U.S.), Dr Mast has always had a keen awareness of the importance of a global perspective and places a high value on authentic learning in different cultural contexts.   Dr Mast is also an stablished mathematics researcher and award-winning educator who views mathematics as a tool to increase equity and overcome injustice.  The third edition of her award-winning mathematics textbook, Common Sense Mathematics, will be published this summer.