Reverend Stephen Thorne, the Neumann University Chaplain, has been selected to receive the 2017 Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Award from the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) for his dedication and commitment to excellence.

Fr. Thorne is one of 42 educators in the country chosen to receive the award. There are more than 150,000 teachers, administrators, and diocesan leaders in the nation’s Catholic schools.

He will be recognized during the annual NCEA 2017 Convention and Expo on April 18 in St. Louis. The award honors those whose ministry is Catholic school education and who have demonstrated a strong Catholic educational philosophy, exceptional ability, dedication, and results.

Fr. Thorne serves as pastor of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church in North Philadelphia, in addition to his duties as university chaplain and adjunct faculty member in the Division of Education and Human Services. He has also volunteered his time and expertise to assist Gesu School, an independent Catholic school in Philadelphia.

“From kindergarten to graduate school, I have benefited from Catholic school education,” said Fr. Thorne. “I teach and proclaim the Gospel as a college professor, mentor, and especially a pastor.”

Since his ordination in 1998, Fr. Thorne has served as parochial vicar and parochial administrator for Saint Katharine Drexel Catholic Church in Chester; theology faculty member and moderator of the community service corps at Saint John Neumann High School in South Philadelphia; executive director of the Office for Black Catholics, Archdiocese of Philadelphia; pastor at Saint Therese Catholic Church in Mt. Airy; and administrator of the Daniel Rudd Fund of the National Black Catholic Congress in Baltimore.

He has a special interest in urban education and has presented research at the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education and the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators.