Sister Delia Dowling, SSND: 2026 Foundress Society Inductee

A commitment to new beginnings, courageous leadership, and the power of education have defined Sister Delia Dowling’s remarkable career and vocation. Throughout her more than 60 years as a School Sister of Notre Dame, she has embraced the call to respond to the needs of the times, inspiring generations of young people through faith, service, and education.

A Baltimore native, Sister Delia grew up attending St. William of York School and Seton High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree from what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University and both her master’s and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University.

The majority of Sister Delia’s ministerial work has been in Baltimore. She is perhaps best known as the co-founder and longtime president of Sisters Academy of Baltimore, an independent, faith-based schools for middle school girls located in southwest Baltimore. 8. From its beginnings in 2004, she helped found and sustain a school dedicated to educating girls of different races, ethnic groups, and religions to “become agents of transformation in their families, communities, and society.” Sisters Academy and Notre Dame Prep have also formed an enduring partnership through the Sisters Academy Summer Sports Camp at NDP, allowing the two school communities to learn, grow, and build relationships together.  

Because of her, Sisters Academy has become a beacon of hope for countless young women in Baltimore whose lives have been Indelibly changed because of the opportunities they received there. In recognition of her outstanding leadership at Mother Seton Academy,  the Archdiocese of Baltimore awarded her the Seton-Sellinger Medal in 2023.

After leaving Sisters Academy in 2023, Sister Delia  embarked on more “new beginnings.” As the inaugural chair of the SSND Sponsorship Council, she shepherded in a new era of lay leadership within SSND ministries. Nowhere does this commitment play out more powerfully than in the pivotal role she played as Notre Dame Prep transitioned from religious to lay leadership in fall 2025. With care, grace, and wisdom, Sr. Delia helped the school navigate such sea change to ensure that both the charism and values of the School Sisters of Notre Dame flourished and the mission of transformational education strengthened. Now a member of the SSND Atlantic-Midwest Provincial Council, the province’s leadership group, she continues to share her gifts as a member of NDP’s Board of Trustees.

Grounded in faith and inspired by a lifelong spirit of service, Sister Delia has left an enduring legacy of leadership, innovation, and compassion in the schools where she taught, the programs she oversaw, and the lives she touched. Her life's work stands as a testament to the power of faith-filled vision and the profound difference one person can make in the lives of others.