Dr. Barbara DeConcini

American Academy of Religion
1703 Clifton Rd., NE,
Ste. G5
Atlanta, Georgia 30329-4075
404/727-7920

Dr. Barbara DeConcini is the Executive Director and Treasurer of the American Academy of Religion. In this capacity she is the Chief Executive Officer of an 8,500-member learned society and professional association in the field of religious studies. Dr. DeConcini received her Ph.D. from Emory University in Religion and Literature where her Interdisciplinary Humanities Dissertation was entitled: Remembering: A Hermeneutic of Narrative Time. She received an M.A. from Bryn Mawr College in English and an A.B. (magna cum laude) from Rosemont College. She teaches courses at Emory University in religion and film, religion and literature, and contemporary religious thought. She is the author of Narrative Remembering (University Press of America). Dr. DeConcini is a Visiting Scholar at Cambridge University's Wolfson College. She has been honored in Who's Who in America and Who's Who among American Women. A Dean Barbara DeConcini Award for Excellence in Writing and Critical Thinking is given annually at the Atlanta College of Art in her honor.

Dr. Paul DeLay is chief of the HIV/AIDS Division in the Global Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAID assists over 40 developing countries with policy reform/advocacy, design, implementation and evaluation of HIV prevention and mitigation programs, through both public and private /NGO sector resources of the host country. Dr. DeLay is a medical doctor with training and experience in family practice, infectious/tropical diseases, epidemiology, preventive medicine and public health. He is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health and possesses a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He practiced clinical medicine for 13 years, including 8 years as Medical Director of Refugee Medical Services for the City of San Francisco. In 1988 Dr. DeLay joined the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Programme on AIDS, serving as the WHO Team Leader to assist the Ministry of Health in Malawi for the design and implementation of the national HIV/AIDS prevention program. Dr. DeLay has worked in over 20 developing countries on HIV/AIDS issues. He was named Chief of the HIV/AIDS Division of USAID in February of 1997.

Fr. Rodney DeMartini, S.M., a member of the Society of Mary, is the Executive Director of the National Catholic AIDS Network where he was a Member of the founding Board of Directors. He serves as the Chair of the Sonoma County AIDS Ministry Outreach Committee in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, CA. Fr. Rodney has served as the Director of AIDS Education for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, President of the Board of Directors of the AIDS Service Providers Association of the Bay Area, and President and Board Member of the Aris Project in Santa Clara County, CA. He was Secretary and Member of the Secondary Schools Executive Committee of the National Catholic Educational Association in Washington, DC and Principal of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose where he had been Director of Campus Ministry. He holds a Master of Arts from Santa Clara University, Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies and Master of Theology from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana and a Bachelor's degree from Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sister Anne Dougherty is a Franciscan Sister who has worked as a counselor with men, women and children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS since 1988. In 1989 she founded Francis House, an interfaith day center for men, women and children. Sr. Anne has given numerous workshops in hospitals, churches, schools and prisons. She has also given workshops at local and state conferences on AIDS and Spirituality. She has written her doctoral project on Francis House: A Spiritual Journey From House To Home. The history is expanded to consider and reaffirm the role of the church foundations in general, in ministering to the sick and dying; their contribution continues to be important, whether to sufferers from leprosy to AIDS. Sister Anne received her B.A. from Moore College of Art, an M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, and a D.Min in Pastoral Counseling from the Graduate Theological Foundation. She served on the Board of AIDS National Interfaith Network.