Kate Shea Kennon
Profession and company: Assistant Dean, Fordham University.
How do you celebrate your Irishness? Beyond my allegiance to a good pint of Guinness, I celebrate my Irishness through a fervent and lifelong support of Irish culture and arts. Not to give away my age, but let's chat about U2 at Shea's Buffalo. The theater was never the same after, and neither was I.
Name a hero you admire and why? My heroes are Michael and Mary Griffin Shea, who left Annascaul, Co. Kerry in 1928 to make a better life for themselves and for us, the future generation. They sacrificed a great deal to educate their children (my father, James Patrick Shea - another hero!), and we, their grandchildren, reap the rewards of their efforts. I am a citizen of Ireland through the Irish government's Foreign Birth Registry, a policy of wisdom and foresight, and I feel as at home and invested there as I do in New York.
Something people would be surprised to know about me... this summer will be my third time riding my bicycle from Buffalo to Albany along the Erie Canal—360 miles. This year, the Eric Canal is celebrating its bicentennial, and I can't wait to celebrate this milestone with all the beautiful towns along the canal.
Biography: Kate Shea Kennon, Ed. D. is an assistant dean at Fordham University. She is an executive board member of the Jesuit Business Network, which brings together Jesuit colleges from all over the U.S. to share best practices in student services. Kennon holds a doctorate in education from Fordham, an MA from Western Connecticut University, and a BA in English from St. Bonaventure University, where she co-leads a cycling club. She is proud to be a longstanding board member of the Origin Theater, which, since its inception in 2008, has introduced more than 400 Irish and Irish American playwrights to NYC.
