(5 September 1908 – 20 March 1998)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) has cataloged several dozen specimens of Cyperus that were annotated in the early 1960’s by Dr. Federowicz. As NCU’s collections continue to be cataloged, it is possible that more specimens studied by her will be found.
Sister Mary M. Flaventia Federowicz (whose religious name was Sister Mary Rose Federowicz) was an American of Polish descent born in Orange, Connecticut on 5 September, 1908. She attended elementary school in Orange and Derby Connecticut, then attended Holy Family Novitiate High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1922-1931. She graduated with a B. A. in Biology and Mathematics from Catholic University of America in 1940. She earned a M.S. in Botany in 1950 and a Ph.D. in Botany in 1961 from the same institution.
Dr. Federowicz was a member of the Roman Catholic order of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (C.S.F.N.).
She was a professor of Biology at Holy Family College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from its inception in 1954 through the late 1970’s. In addition to serving as head of the Biology Department for a number of years, she also served at the pre-med advisor, and moderator of the “Albertans” science club. At Holy Family she taught the introductory courses in biological principals as well as junior and senior level courses. She developed and taught a number of upper level courses on histology, parasitology, botany and zoology. She was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Middle States Teachers Association.
Sr. M. Flaventia died at Mount Nazareth, Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth Convent in Philadelphia on March 20, 1998.
PUBLICATIONS:
Federowicz, M. Flavencia [sic] (1950) Halophytes of the sub-Arctic coast of Alaska. M.S. Thesis, Biology, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Federowicz, Flaventia (1962) The significance of the achene and stoma in the status of Eucyperus and Mariscus (Cyperaceae) based the studies of plastic replicas. Ph.D. Thesis, Catholic University of America Biological studies no. 75, Washington, D.C.
Federowicz, M. F. (1963) The liturgy in the life of our teachers. Proceedings of the 6th Inter-Provincial Conference. Immaculate Conception Province, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 102-112.