Thomas G. Vinci, Ed.D., UGE ’49, professor emeritus and associate dean emeritus at the Graduate School of Education (GSE), died on Nov. 24 at the age of 93.

“My dad considered Fordham his second home and counted many of his colleagues there among his best friends,” said his son Tom Vinci, FCRH ’73, LAW ’77.

“He cherished his decades-long association with such a wonderful institution.”

Vinci joined the Fordham family as an undergraduate at the School of Education, where he earned a B.S. in 1949. He earned an Ed.D. at Columbia University and began teaching at Fordham’s Graduate School of Education in 1967, first as an assistant professor and then as a full professor. He became associate dean of the school in 1974, serving in that position until his retirement in 1988.

In 1983, the Doctorate Association of New York honored him with an “Outstanding Educator of the Year” award. A member of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society for educators, Vinci authored 27 chapters and monographs in textbooks and national publications.

James J. Hennessey, Ph.D., former dean of the Graduate School of Education, said Vinci’s tenure at Fordham, including a stint as chair of the school’s Division of Curriculum and Teaching, was one marked by outstanding service.

Vinci’s service to Fordham did not end with his retirement. He was the director of the  Graduate School of Education’s alumni association, and along with his wife, Elin, headed Fordham’s South Florida Alumni Chapter. For his service, the association in 1994 created the Thomas G Vinci Award to honor devoted GSE alumni.

Vinci is survived by his wife Elin, FCLC ’75, GSAS ’78; his sons, Tom and Peter; a daughter-in-law, Ann, LAW ’77; and four grandchildren.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Deerfield Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 3rd at 9:30 a.m.

A special mass of intention will be held at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at the Lincoln Center campus’ Blessed Rupert Mayer Chapel, Room 221, Lowenstein Center.

Recently established by America Media, the Joseph A. O’Hare, SJ, Post Graduate Writing Fellowship is awarded to recent graduates of Jesuit colleges and universities. The fellows will be housed at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus while producing stories across town at the offices of America Media, and will also be invited to take part in events of the master’s program in public media being launched at Fordham in the fall.

Funded by a gift from William J. Loschert, GABELLI ’61, the fellowship will help meet the need for journalists who can creatively combine traditional reporting and new media skills while skillfully covering church-related issues, said Matt Malone, SJ, America Media’s president and editor in chief.

“It is hard to imagine a more appropriate honor for Father O’Hare than this fellowship program, created at the confluence of Jesuit, Catholic education and journalism, and of course created by generosity of Bill Loschert, a distinguished Fordham alumnus,” said Joseph M. McShane, SJ, president of Fordham. “We are pleased to welcome the inaugural fellows, and proud to support them in a program that places journalism in the context of our Jesuit identity.”

At America Media, “we tend to write about issues that are at the intersection of the church and the world,” Malone said. “Cultivating a group of young people who can actually stand at that intersection and who can understand both in some fundamental way I think will serve both the church and the larger media world very well.”

It made “perfect sense” to name the fellowship for Father O’Hare, president emeritus of Fordham, since he served as editor in chief of America Media’s America magazine before becoming president of Fordham in 1984, Malone said.

Announced by America Media on May 16, the three inaugural fellows are Wyatt Massey, Teresa Donnellan, and Nicholas Genovese, graduates of Marquette and Georgetown universities and Boston College, respectively.

During the yearlong fellowship, recipients will be prepared to write for either Catholic media or other professional outlets. They’ll produce content for print, web, digital, social media, and events; learn from America’s editorial staff members including James Martin, SJ, the bestselling author; and engage with high-profile members of the New York communications community and build their professional networks.

At Fordham, the fellows will be invited to lectures, workshops, and extracurricular activities of the master’s program in public media, and they’ll have access to the library and other facilities, said Jacqueline Reich, PhD, chairwoman of the Department of Communication and Media Studies.

The master’s in public media also involves Fordham’s public radio station, WFUV (90.7 FM, wfuv.org), and WNET/Channel 13 public television. Its focus is multiplatform journalism and strategic communication with an eye toward civic and social engagement, Reich said.

The department is checking out other possibilities for collaborating with America Media, like creating a series of lectures and workshops by America correspondents, she said.

“We’re basically exploring ways that we can collaborate with both the fellows and America Media in general,” she said. “We see a lot of synergy between America Media and our department.”

The fellowship includes health coverage and a stipend. More information about eligibility and applying is available online.