PC Degrees:

• B.A. degree in religious and scriptural studies with summa cum laude honors,1978
• Certificate in Advanced Scripture/Theological Studies, 1979
• Honorary doctor of humanities degree, 2009

Activities Participated in at PC: Volunteer assistant in the Office of the Chaplain

Career Path Highlights:   After making her final profession as a Dominican Sister in 1978, Sister Debbie served as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal at St. Peter's Elementary School in Plattsburgh from 1978-1995. Following sabbatical studies at the Berakah Renewal Center for Religious in Pittsfield, N.H., she became a founding vowed member of the Dominican Sisters of Hope congregation in Plattsburgh later in 1995. Sister Debbie served as a campus minister and scripture teacher at Seton Catholic Central High School in Plattsburgh from 1996-2001. She earned a master's degree in theology from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., in 1984.

Sister Debbie co-founded North Country Mission of Hope  in 1998 in response to Hurricane Mitch, which killed more than 22,000 people in Central America. She had learned about the severe effects of the storm from a Nicaraguan student at Seton Catholic Central High School whom Sister helped rescue when the family escaped from Nicaragua's civil war in the 1980s. The mission fosters hope in Nicaragua through sustainable programs in education, healthcare, community development, and ecological development.

Under her leadership, more than 900 volunteers have made 32 mission trips to Nicaragua. The mission has provided healthcare for more than 45,000 people and sponsorships to educate more than 500 students. It has built more than 400 homes, as well as classrooms, a library, and a community development center. Thousands of malnourished children have been fed through a collaborative program, Children Feeding Children.

Sister Debbie has been honored by the Archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua, the former Cardinal of Nicaragua, and numerous churches and institutions, including the Diocese of Ogdensburg, N.Y., and the Clinton County Legislature. She was named the 2001 Person of the Year by the Red Hummingbird Society and the 2005 Kiwanis Citizen of the Year. She received the Rotarian Paul Harris Award of Distinction for Service in 2005.

Staying Involved with the Community:   Sister Debbie served as a lector, Eucharistic minister, and scripture teacher at St. Peter's Parish in Plattsburgh. A former Finance Board member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, her former congregation, she was a member of the Teacher Trainer and Religion Curriculum committees of the Diocese of Ogdensburg. A former volunteer for the Clinton County Food Shelf, she also served as the coordinator of a Women's Scripture Study Group in Plattsburgh.

Staying Involved with Providence College:  In recognition of her bringing the light and hope of Christ into the lives of thousands of people during more than 30 years in academic and pastoral ministries, Sister Blow received an honorary doctor of humanities degree at the College's Ninety-First Commencement Exercises on May 17, 2009.

"Transforming" quote: "My PC education prepared me spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally for ministry committed to transforming the world by changing one heart at a time. My commitment to justice is lived by standing in my truth as a Dominican Sister and a graduate of PC, and in reaching out to the global community, especially those most marginalized by poverty, hunger and lack of education and healthcare. I believe my mission is to live HOPE--to be HOPE--in a world desperately in need of HOPE, and that my life as a Dominican and as a graduate of PC has prepared me incredibly well for that mission."