Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Award
Sister Virginia Rodee, RSCJ, ’57 (BA), ’74 (MA)
Retired Assistant Vice President for Mission and Ministry
Sister Virginia Rodee is a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart and a native San Diegan who grew up in Coronado. She attended the Academy of Our Lady of Peace and the San Diego College for Women, which later became the University of San Diego. She received her Master of Arts in English from USD and her master’s in theological studies from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass.
Sister Rodee spent 22 years in Korea teaching at the Sacred Heart College for Women, now known as the Catholic University of Korea. She taught English literature and was the director of the university’s Foreign Language Education Institute. She also served in the society’s administration and was responsible for formation programs for her congregation, which involved travel to Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Subsequently, Sister Rodee worked in Rome, Italy, for six years, training Religious of the Sacred Heart from 23 countries around the world. Through her work, her travels took her to England, Scotland, France, Spain, Poland and Canada. She is fluent in Korean and French.
She recently retired from her position as Assistant Vice President for Mission and Ministry at USD, where her primary responsibilities were to foster the mission and core values of the university. This included orientations for new faculty and staff, as well as serving on several committees, including the President’s Advisory Board for Inclusion and Diversity, the Bishop Maher Catholic Leadership Scholarship Committee, and the Core Curriculum Committee.
Sister Rodee serves on a variety of boards, including the St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center, (for adults with developmental disabilities), the Kraemer Endowment Foundation, the San Diego Sacred Heart Alumnae/i, and the University of San Diego Alumni Association Board, where she serves as chaplain. She also served on the boards of the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters and the Academy of Our Lady of Peace.
She was honored in 2007 as a “Coronado Legend” for her contribution to women’s education and in 2009 she received the Woman of Conscience Award from the Associated Alumnae of the Sacred Heart. She was also selected as the 2016 Alumna of the Year by the Academy of Our Lady of Peace.
