University of Dayton

Sister Angela Ann Zukowski, M.H.S.H., directs the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives and teaches in the religious studies department. She co-directs the Caribbean School for Catholic Communication. An internationally known pioneer in the use of new media for religious education, she's often invited to give lectures and workshops around the world.

For seven years, she served as the world president for the International Catholic Association for Radio and Television, known as UNDA. As a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications — the first woman with voting privileges on that Vatican council — she was principal author of the important Vatican document, Aetatis Novae. The document called for development of pastoral communications planning around the world.

Sister Angela Ann received the 1993 Lackner Award from the University of Dayton for her embodiment of the University's Catholic and Marianist character. In 1997, she was awarded the President's Medallion, a lifetime achievement award from UNDA-USA, and was named one of the 25 most influential individuals in Catholic education over the past 25 years by the National Catholic Education Association and the Peter Li Group. In 2001, she received Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from Pope John Paul II in Rome. In 2004, she received the Distinguished Communicators Award from the Salesian Guild.

She co-authored the book, The Gospel in Cyberspace and developed the Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation, a pioneering project in online religious education with courses in English and Spanish.

The Story - I like to keep pushing the paradigm. I want to know what is over the next horizon, and I want to encourage our team to do the best they can to demonstrate that we can serve the (Catholic) church today in this new digital age. I'm the visionary. I'm the dreamer. I'm an explorer. I'm a weaver of ideas and a weaver of dreams. That's how I would see myself.

I'm Sister Angela Ann Zukowski. I'm a Mission Helper of the Sacred Heart. I'm a professor in the department of religious studies and the director for the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives.

I came into communications in 1971 in cable television. I began producing a seven-week series that went into 10 communities in Ohio. By 1978, we were in 40 communities in Ohio. That was the beginning. Then, I was convinced about the value of communications in the church. I was invited to come to the University of Dayton in 1979 to begin working in the center here. And that center has evolved into who we are today, the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives. The ultimate goal was how to bring the evolving communications reality of the world into service for the church. Presently, I think our Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation is the most significant mark right now. We are able to offer the church a profound service with our online courses.

In 1988, I was invited to be part of a committee to work on a document in the Vatican that eventually was Aetatis Novae. Then I was elected the world president for Catholic communications, and that was also a Vatican appointment. So, I became very much involved, going maybe 25 to 30 times during my presidency to the Vatican and serving as a kind of consultant to the Pontifical Council and to Pope John Paul II. I got to know a lot about John Paul II. I met him every single time I went to Rome. He's Polish and I'm Polish, and we connected. At the end of my term as the world president, the Holy Father presented me with this lovely honor for all the work that I had done for the Catholic church in my international leadership role. That was a very great honor for me to receive that award from John Paul II.

I really love what I'm doing. I love where I am in my life. I love the people I'm involved with. The support that we get from the Marianist community, the support we get from the University of Dayton, makes that possible. I have these dreams, and I keep following the dreams. And it's (all) through the support of so many friends and a great team here at the Institute. They really bend over backwards to really make those dreams come true. People in the field out there really believe in what we are doing. I think it's all of that together. But I will always say that it's the gift of the Holy Spirit — and only that.

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