Sister Esther Anderson, OSF, will deliver the Dorothy A.P. Leunissen Presidential Lecture as part of the University’s 49th Charter Day celebration on March 12, 2014. Sister Esther, congregational minister and president of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, will speak on “Educating in the Franciscan Tradition: A Journey of Celebration.”

The Leunissen Lecture is delivered every year on the anniversary of Neumann’s founding. The Dorothy A.P. Leunissen Presidential Lecture Series was established in 2004 to bring speakers to the University’s campus to address current topics of interest in Catholic Franciscan higher education.

Sister Esther served on the Board of Neumann University from 1996-2002 and again from 2003-2008. In addition, she chaired the Academic Affairs Committee, and was a member of the Trustee and the Strategic Planning Committees. She has extensive experience in congregational leadership, sponsorship of various ministries, education, and healthcare governance. She served on the general council of her congregation as assistant congregational minister and vice president of the Sisters of St. Francis Corporation from 1996-2002. From 1985-1993, she served as provincial minister of the western province.

She earned her B.A. in social studies and education from Marylhurst University, Oregon; her M.A. in teaching from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon; an M.A. in religious studies from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington; and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and development from the Union Institute and University in Ohio.

Neumann’s annual Leunissen Lecture is named after Dorothy A. Piatnek-Leunissen, Ph.D., M.D. A longtime area physician, she launched private practice in 1976 with her husband, R.L. Abraham Leunissen, M.D., at Riddle Memorial Hospital in Media. She was a lifelong friend of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and supporter of Neumann University.