Le Moyne Announces 2025 Undergraduate Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients

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John Smarrelli, Jr. ’75, Ph.D., will give the undergraduate commencement address as part of Le Moyne College’s 75th commencement ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, May 18 at 9:30 a.m. in the Expo Center at the New York State Fairgrounds.


A Syracuse native, Smarrelli has had an impressive career in higher education as a professor, department chair, provost and president. In 2009 he was appointed the 22nd president of Christian Brothers University (CBU) in Memphis, Tenn., the first non-Christian Brother to serve in this role. During his tenure, he oversaw the launch of a massive, privately-funded program to enroll students in the federal government’s Deferred Action Against Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He also started programs in cybersecurity, graduate accounting, nursing and physician assistant studies and launched a $70 million fundraising campaign. Following retiring as president in 2019, he was named CBU president emeritus and a three-block stretch in front of the university was renamed the Dr. John Smarrelli, Jr. Street in his honor. Prior to CBU, Smarrelli served as Le Moyne’s inaugural provost from 2001 to 2007. Upon the retirement of Charles Beirne, S.J. in 2007, he was named Le Moyne’s interim president, becoming the first College alumnus and layperson to serve as president of the institution. Before joining Le Moyne, he worked for 18 years at Loyola University Chicago, starting in 1983 as a biology faculty member, and serving as chair of the biology department from 1993 to 1998 and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences from 1998 to 2001. Smarrelli graduated from Le Moyne with a Bachelor’s Degree in biology, and received a Master’s Degree in chemistry in 1977 and Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1980 from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, completing his postdoctoral work at the University of Virginia.

Smarrelli is one of four individuals who will be awarded an honorary degree by the College; others who will receive honorary doctorates are:

  • Mary Margaret Green ’76, M.D., a retired physician at Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Ind., who also taught emergency medicine at the University of Louisville.
  • James F. Keenan, S.J., Canisius Chair and director of the Jesuit Institute and vice provost of Global Engagement at Boston College.
  • Meg O’Connell, executive director of the Allyn Family Foundation

“I am thrilled to have John deliver the commencement address as he celebrates 50 years since graduating from Le Moyne,” said Le Moyne College President Linda LeMura. “Beyond being a well-respected and groundbreaking academic leader, John is a close friend and colleague who recruited me to come to Le Moyne more than 20 years ago. John and all those who have been selected for honorary degrees this year are wonderful individuals whose work and record of service are exemplary. ”

Dr. Mary Margaret Green ’76 retired in 2014 following a distinguished career as both a practitioner and instructor of emergency medicine. In 1987 Dr. Green completed her public health scholarship commitment at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, Conn., where she was the assistant director of the emergency department. From 1987 to 1997, she served first as assistant professor and then clinical instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Louisville. Following that, she was an attending physician in the emergency department at the Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Ind., where she also served as president of the medical staff from 2001 to 2003. In 2014, she received the prestigious Regional Top Doctor Award from Castle Connolly. She was a Diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine and also published and lectured on emergency medicine. She has remained deeply connected to her alma mater, including her service on the Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2005. In 2001, she was honored with the Ignatian Award for Professional Achievement. A native of Waterville, N.Y., she graduated from Le Moyne in 1976 with a BS degree in biology and earned her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine.

James F. Keenan, S.J. is a distinguished ethicist and theologian who has made profound scholarly contributions to the field of moral theology, particularly in the areas of social justice, human dignity and Catholic ethics. He has edited or written more than 25 books and published over 400 essays, articles and reviews worldwide. In 2003 he founded Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC), an international network of ethicists that has since hosted three international and six regional conferences. Today CTEWC has its own book series and is a live network of over 1,000 Catholic ethicists. Among his books are University Ethics: How Colleges Can Build and Benefit from a Culture of Ethics (2015 – Rowman and Littlefield) and A History of Catholic Theological Ethics (2022 – Paulist Press). In 2019 he received the John Courtney Murray Lifetime Achievement Award from the Catholic Theological Society of America and he served as president of the Society of Christian Ethics from 2020 to 2021. A Jesuit priest since 1982, he received a licentiate and a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Since 2013,  has served as executive director of the Allyn Family Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in Central New York with assets of over $132 million. In this role, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing social equity and educational opportunities for underserved communities. She has a long history of volunteerism and service – she currently serves as chair of the Early Childhood Alliance, Work Train, ABC Cayuga Play Space and Syracuse Urban Partnership, as treasurer of Blueprint 15, and also serves on the board and executive committee of CenterState CEO, on the board of CNY Works, as a member of the Syracuse Mayor’s SURGE Executive Committee and on the JPMorgan Advancing Cities Partner Council. A graduate of Dartmouth College, in 2010 she received the Women of Distinction award from the Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways Inc. She served as honorary co-chair (with her husband Eric Allyn) of the 34th Annual InterFaith Leadership Award Dinner in 2016 and in December 2019, they were honorary co-chairs of Vera House’s 28th Annual “New Beginnings” Gala. Formerly chair of the board of Onondaga Community College, in 2012 she left the board when she was elected interim president of OCC, a position she held for a year until a permanent president was hired. In 2022, the couple donated $1 million to Onondaga Community College to create The Meg O’Connell Center for Social Justice and Community Impact, which provides support for students in volunteer and service-learning opportunities.