This month Saybrook University will award three honorary degrees to individuals recognized for representing a substantial body of work and high achievement in disciplines that embrace the University’s values and principles:
Jill Zohara Meyerhoff Hieronimus
Milton Schwebel, PhD
Doreen Cato, PhD
Honorary degrees will be awareded to Ms. Hieronimus and Dr. Schwebel at the commencement ceremony for the Graduate College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies on June 13 and to Dr. Cato at the commencement ceremony for LIOS Graduate College on June 22
Ms. Hieronimus is an award winning radio broadcaster, published author, social justice and environmental activist, and pioneer in championing mind/body, holistic healthcare. She hosted the longest aired “whistle blowers” radio program in American broadcast history (1992-2001), and exposed many individuals and groups who were subverting the public trust. In 2008, a Brazilian organization, the Peace and You Movement, made her an Award Laureate for her contributions to peace and health in the United States. In 1984, she founded (and still serves as Executive Director for) the Ruscombe Mansion Community Health Center, which serves east coast clients with holistic healthcare services and programs. Ms. Hieronimus received The Garland of Excellence Award in 2005 from a Sir Paul McCartney-sanctioned Charity, the Garland Appeal, for her and Ruscombe’s two decades of service.
Other awards include the Daughters of the American Revolution Award for Media Programming on the U.S. Constitution (1993), the Defenders of Liberty Award for Media Profiling of Founders of the Republic (1995), the Maryland State Legislature Citation for Public Service (1997), the Judicial Watch Award for Excellence in Broadcasting (2000), the Best of Baltimore Award for Best Radio Show (2001), and the Golden Web Award for Excellence in Media (2001).
In partnership with her husband Saybrook alumnus Robert R. Hieronimus, PhD, she has participated in numerous humanitarian projects in Egypt, Israel, Great Britain, and the United States. They are co-founders of Hieronimus & Co., a media resource company. Ms. Hieronimus co-founded the A-Z Kabbalah Institute, where she has been a instructor on the inner teachings of the Alef- Beit, (the Hebrew alphabet), and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as seen through the lives of the seven female prophets of Israel. These prophets were the focus of her 2008 book, The Kabbalistic Teachings of the Female Prophets, Seven Holy Women of Ancient Israel, published by Inner Traditions.
Drawing upon her lifelong participation in cutting-edge arts and sciences, global economics, environmental activism, and community organization, Ms. Hieronimus has hosted national, regional, and local radio programs for 25 years. e.g., The Zoh Show, Future Talk, Clear View, The Children’s Corner. Her artwork is featured in public shows and her digital photography is archived on-line in various forums. Examples can be found on her website: www.zoharaonline.com.
Dr. Schwebel’s education from the start was multi-disciplinary. From this background he has contributed to the application of what is known to nurturing the potential for human cognitive and social development. His early work on health counseling was heavily influenced by the work of Carl Rogers. Also influenced by Piaget, his work has nevertheless changed the developmental focus from one in which stages give rise to learning capacities to one in which learning opportunities give rise to stages in development. His 1968 book, Who Can Be Educated? won the praise of psychiatrist Robert Coles for its incisive account of the capacities for learning among all groups of people. More recently his, Remaking America’s Three School Systems: Now Separate and Unequal is recognized as one of the most carefully documented accounts of the shortcomings of the American educational system, In the field of counseling as in education Dr. Schwebel uniquely distinguishes between the mountains of banal scholarship and the kernels of wisdom that make the process work.
His administrative work as Dean of Rutgers Graduate school of Professional and Applied Psychology has long promoted the development of counselors, therapists and educators who define their work not only by disciplinary proficiency but by ethics and by commitments to social justice. His work has helped to correct the gender and race biases in American education
Dr. Schwebel is surely a founder of what has become the field of peace psychology. His work on the effects of war on children was seminal. He was the founding editor of the Journal Peace and Conflict: the Journal of Peace Psychology, a President of the Psychologists for Social Responsibility and a recipient of its award for research.
In addition to invited presentations in Universities around the world and with UNESCO, he has appeared on the Today Show and Oprah. His latest book was a tribute to the memory of his wife Bernice who died two years ago after more than 60 years of marriage. It provides an understated message to its readers on the meaning of love.
Dr. Cato is an international advocate for children’s rights and has served 12 years as Executive Director of First Place, a school and social service agency for homeless and vulnerable children and families in Seattle.
Her calling and deep passion to work with children and youth takes her beyond the bounds of the United States. Working with Cultural Reconnection Mission and African American Kenyan Women Interconnect, she travels to schools in the rural areas of Kenya and Ethiopia, where she continues to make a difference in the lives of so many.
Dr. Cato is no stranger to LIOS. She received her Master’s in Applied Behavioral Science in 1991 from Leadership Institute of Seattle and served as CORE faculty member at LIOS from 1991 – 1993. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership in from Seattle University and is an Associate Faculty member at Antioch University in Seattle.
Her community involvement includes over 30 years on various boards, commissions, and committees in the Washington State area.
While she has been the recipient of numerous national awards and recognition, Dr. Cato considers her children and grandchildren to be her greatest accomplishments.