Eileen A. Gavin Papers

Eileen Gavin, Ph.D., professor emerita of psychology, graduated from St. Kate's in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She went on to earn an MA from the University of Minnesota in 1960 and a PhD from Loyola University Chicago in 1964. A one-time Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet (until 1987), she taught psychology at St. Kate's for nearly 40 years, and also served as chair of the department from 1967-1979. From the earliest days of her career, Gavin believed that all psychology courses at St. Kate's should have a required lab component, elevating the discipline from a “soft” to a “hard” science. She was very active in various divisions of the American Psychological Association, including Division 36 (then known as Psychologists Interested in Religious Issues). Gavin retired from teaching in 2000. She was awarded a Myser Family Teaching Excellence Award in 2002. Beginning in 2009, the Eileen A. Gavin Award in Excellence in Psychology has been presented annually at St. Kate's to an outstanding senior in psychology.