The Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education’s own Valerie Torres, Ph.D., FCRH ’83, GRE ’01, ’08, was recognized at the University’s second annual Women’s Philanthropy Summit this fall.
Torres, an adjunct professor and two-time GRE alumna, was honored alongside eight other women who have been pioneering philanthropists at Fordham. The annual summit gathers alumnae, students, faculty, and friends to share ideas about careers, life milestones, and the power of giving.
GRE Dean Tito Cruz with Valerie Torres, Ph.D.
Born and raised in New York City, Torres is a faculty member and chair of the religious education department at Aquinas High School, an all-girls Catholic school in the Bronx. She also chairs the board of directors of Aquinas Housing Corporation, a grassroots nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing to low- to moderate-income families.
As an educator, Torres says her interests lie primarily in “STREAM” education—Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, Mathematics—as a way of bridging academia and ministry.
Torres pursued her doctoral degree at GRE while working in the computer science field at AT&T Labs Research. She was the first graduate of the program asked to design and teach an online course, “Hispanic Family Ministry and Catechesis.” In addition to teaching about Latino ministry at GRE, she has also taught leadership formation and Bible study to adults in Spanish at the Institute of Religious and Pastoral Studies, and she is a member of the New York Archdiocese’s Hispanic Educational Catholic Advisory Board.
For more about the Summit, read the Fordham News story.
