Sister Mary Virginia Orna: Blazing a Trail for Women in Chemistry
Sister Mary Virginia Orna:
Blazing a Trail for Women in Chemistry
Sister Mary Virginia Orna, OSU, is truly one of a kind. Energetic and talkative, with short silver hair and robin-bright eyes that miss nothing on her daily five-mile walks, she could pass for a woman far younger than her 90 years.
But Orna, who taught chemistry at the College of New Rochelle (CNR) for 40 years, has never been one to rest on her laurels. Her many honors and achievements are more than mere high points in her remarkable life and career. Orna’s story includes travel and study, bold adventures and serendipity,
all revolving around service and the deep love of chemistry that has guided her throughout her life.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Orna entered the Order of Saint Ursula in 1962, almost immediately after receiving her doctorate in chemistry at Fordham University. Following 30 months of novitiate training and another year of theological study at the Catholic University of America, she was assigned by the Order to teach chemistry at CNR. Though at first skeptical of the college’s small chemistry department and her even smaller teaching role, she said, “It didn’t matter. I was ready to do anything,” as long as it involved her beloved subject: chemistry.
The 1960s were a time of upheaval laced with opportunity. “Girls were not encouraged — not even given a peek — at anything related to science when I was young,” she said. Sensing the student discontent that characterized much of that era, Orna and several colleagues devised a core curriculum before it became a trend. Some of the courses had no textbooks, “so I wrote them,” she said with a shrug.
Orna recalled a lightbulb moment when she realized that teaching students the history of chemistry could personalize courses that many students found remote and difficult. “The students [were happier when they] were looking at the people behind the molecules,” she said.
She was always studying, traveling and contributing to her field. As a Fulbright Fellow, she lectured at the renowned Hebrew University and Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. In Rome she collaborated with two Italian authors, translating a dense volume on the periodic table from Italian to English. In Poland she taught English as another language, possibly the fourth or fifth for most of her students. When she began studying the chemistry of color, it awakened in her a fascination that led to two of her many books, “The Chemical History of Color” and “March of the Pigments: Color History, Science and Impact.”
As a longtime active member of the American Chemical Society, Orna garnered a slew of awards and appointments related to chemistry education and publishing. In 2021, the Society gave Orna one of its most distinguished honors: the HIST Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in the History of Chemistry.
True to the Ursuline motto, she has never ceased to practice “serviam.” When the college closed in 2019, she served on the CNR Legacy Council during its migration to Mercy and remains actively engaged with Mercy and the CNR alumni community. “We are very grateful to Mercy for providing a place to meet where we feel welcomed and honored,”
she said.
Orna was thrilled to be recently selected as the 2024 CNR reunion speaker for the Sister Dorothy Ann Kelly, OSU Lifelong Enrichment Series, established in honor of the former CNR president. On June 15, she led a discussion on color — its rich history, its chemistry and its impact throughout human history. The event was open to all Mercy and CNR alumni, faculty, staff and students.
Orna’s keen scientific mind has not softened over the years, but it has mellowed into a philosophy that is almost spiritual. “Our job as humans is to pay attention to what is in front of us every single day,” she said. “With every experience, every person, every event, we need to pay attention.”