Holy Family University to Honor Theologian Ilia Delio and Health-Equity Leader Lorina Marshall-Blake
Holy Family University will grant two honorary Doctors of Humane Letters at its 2026 commencement ceremony on May 16. Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, Ph.D., a Franciscan Sister of Washington, D.C. and a professor of theology at Villanova University, will be recognized at the undergraduate ceremony and will serve as its keynote speaker. The Rev. Dr. Lorina Marshall-Blake, MGA, FAAN, immediate past president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation and vice president of Community Affairs for Independence Blue Cross, will be recognized at the graduate ceremony and will serve as its keynote speaker.
“We are looking forward to welcoming these two women whose lives and work have been consistent with Holy Family’s mission and core values,” says Anne Prisco, Ph.D., Holy Family University president. “Sister Ilia’s ability to explain the significance of the impact of science on religion and culture and the importance of loving relationships to advance our understanding of one another as human beings addresses the very heart of who we are as a community. Reverend Lorina Marshall-Blake’s dedication to the healthcare professions, particularly nursing, and the graciousness with which she has shared her knowledge and experience present our students with a wonderful example as they embark on the next stage of their lives’ journeys.”
Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, Ph.D.
Sister Delio’s life’s work has focused on the intersection of science, religion, and culture, addressing such topics such as religion and evolution, consciousness and complexity, the power of love, and artificial intelligence and human evolution.
A native of Newark, New Jersey, she earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Rutgers University’s School of Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences, and a Ph.D. in historical theology from Fordham University. She now holds the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University.
Sister Delio is the author of 26 books, including The Not-Yet God: Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin and the Relational Whole, The Hours of the Universe which won a 2022 Gold Nautilus book award, Making All Things New, Catholicity, Cosmology and Consciousness, a 2019 finalist for the Michael Ramsey Prize, and The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God, Evolution and the Power of Love, which won the 2014 Silver Nautilus Award and a Catholic Press Association Book Award. Her books have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and German.
She is also the general editor of the book series Catholicity in an Evolving Universe, of which there are 10 books published. She lectures nationally and internationally on various topics in religion and science and has appeared on NPR and the PBS series Closer to Truth.
The Rev. Dr. Lorina Marshall-Blake, MGA, FAAN
Marshall-Blake is passionate about giving back to the community. As president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, she helped establish the organization as a collaborator, innovator, and thought leader in addressing emerging health needs in southeastern Pennsylvania. As the vice president of community affairs for Independence Blue Cross (IBX), Marshall-Blake developed and managed relationships with community partners to advance IBX’s social mission.
A native of West Philadelphia, she earned a master’s degree in government administration at the University of Pennsylvania. She is involved with more than 30 professional and civic organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the United Negro College Fund, and is the former president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Omega Omega Chapter. She is also an associate minister at the Vine Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
Marshall-Blake currently serves on more than 25 nonprofit boards and committees as well as on the Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions Executive Advisory Council and the Rutgers School of Nursing Camden Dean’s Leadership Circle. She is an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice.