Grace Mary Flickinger (September 7, 1935 – June 11, 2024) was an American religious sister and college professor. She was a biology professor at

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

(XULA) from 1968 to 2016, and served as the school's faculty athletics representative from 1981 to 2016.

Early life and education

Flickinger was born in the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and raised in

Millville, New Jersey Millville is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 27,491, a decrease of 909 (−3.2%) from the 2010 census count of 28,400, which in turn reflected an in ...

, the youngest child of Edmond J. B. Flickinger and Helen C. Reardon Flickinger. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was a glassworker and veteran of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She graduated from Sacred Heart High School in 1952. She attended Blessed Sacrament College, and earned a master's degree from

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

. She completed doctoral studies at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

. Flickinger joined the

Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) are a Catholic order of religious sisters in the United States. They were founded in 1891 by Katharine Drexel as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. During her life, Sai ...

in 1952, and professed her final vows in 1960.

Career

Flickinger was a biology professor as Xavier University of Louisiana from 1968 to 2016, and was active in the school's athletic programs, and in sports administration at the conference level. She was president of the

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference The HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), formerly known as the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference made up entirely of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that is affiliated with the National Asso ...

(GCAC) twice, from 1990 to 1991, and from 1995 to 1999. She was academic advisor to the XULA basketball team, and founded the Academic Coordination of Athletes program at XULA in 1981. She took particular interest in preparing the school's students for admission to medical schools. Flickinger was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1998. She received NAIA's Wally Schwartz Award in 2007. She was inducted into the XULA Hall of Fame in 2022. Flickinger's area of research was

dermatoglyphics Dermatoglyphics (from Ancient Greek ''derma'', "skin", and ''glyph'', "carving") is the scientific study of fingerprints, lines, mounts and shapes of hands, as distinct from the superficially similar pseudoscience of palmistry. Dermatoglyphics ...

, or the characteristics of fingerprints and palm prints, especially as indicators of health or genetic conditions.

Publications

* "Dermatoglyphics of Apache and Navajo Indians" (1976, with Karen M. Yarbrough) * "Let a Slinky Do Your Teaching!" (1978)

Personal life

Flickinger retired to her order's mother house in Pennsylvania. She died in 2024, at the age of 88, in Pennsylvania. A banner honoring Flickinger is displayed in the rafters at XULA's Convocation Center.

References

External links

"Sister Grace Mary Flickinger discusses her XULA memorabilia"
(December 22, 2016), a video interview with Flickinger, uploaded to YouTube by XULA Athletics *
Photograph of Sister Grace Mary Flickinger, S.B.S. with Unidentified Students"
uploaded to Flickr by Xavier University Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Flickinger, Grace Mary 1935 births 2024 deaths American educators People from Millville, New Jersey Xavier University of Louisiana faculty Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic University of America alumni University of Southern Mississippi alumni