SDSU alumna’s journey from pathologist to public health leader to Catholic nun

In 2001, Sister Maria Lourdes Fernandez Reyes (‘02, Public Health Administration) found herself standing on stage speaking to a crowd of more than 500 cancer survivors. For Lourdes, then president of California’s American Cancer Society (ACS), speaking to a crowd like this was nothing new.

However, this particular speech meant something more to her after recently learning of her own breast cancer diagnosis. Inspired by the connection she felt with these survivors, she decided to start a new journey.

“[This experience] brought me to the realization that I could serve in a different capacity, no longer behind the microscope as a Pathologist but to be with the community,” she said.

50 years old at the time, she stepped down from the ACS, officially starting a new chapter in her career. She enrolled at San Diego State University and pursued a master’s degree in Public Health Administration.

She graduated in 2002, completing the program in just one year while becoming a member of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honors Society and receiving the School of Public Health Hanlon Award for most outstanding graduate.

Before SDSU, Lourdes led a very accomplished career in science. She was previously a fellow at Georgetown University, where she participated in the National Cancer Institute Consensus Workgroup, helping develop the Bethesda System for reporting pap smear cytology diagnosis.

She won a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Cytology for her research paper "Immunocytochemistry of Body Fluids." She also became the first woman to serve as chair of the national Resident Physician Section of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. She even ran her own lab for a period of time.

During her time as president of California’s American Cancer Society, she used the theme “Bridging the Gaps: Working to Eliminate the Cancer Burden Disparities” to motivate volunteers and other workers throughout the state.

The concept of a theme or mantra has always played a big role in her career. While at SDSU, business professor Craig Dunn introduced her to a personal mission statement, a short theme of her own to help define her purpose. Lourdes settled on the statement: “I am dedicated to the realization of human potential.”

“I would like to share with the public health students starting their own careers to dedicate some time to realizing their own personal mission statement and realize it every day of their lives,” she said. “I have since helped others (staff and other organizations) realize their own personal mission statements.”

After receiving her master’s from SDSU, she transitioned to community-based organizations. She served as the community research specialist for the University of California, Irvine’s Health Policy and Research Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network. There, she oversaw the operations of several non-profits in the U.S., Guam, and American Samoa.

A few years later, in 2007, she became director of the U.S. & Border Programs for Project Concern International, a non-profit that addresses issues like health and food security in the U.S. and abroad. Around this time, she adjusted her mission statement: “I am dedicated to the realization of human potential through servant leadership.”

She remained director until 2019, when she retired from public health. Nevertheless, she found a new way to continue supporting communities, becoming a member of the Eudist Servants of the 11th Hour, a Catholic organization that works with prisons and underserved communities in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

“Supporting others, no matter what their religion or state in life is, is so important because we are one, and each day for each one is a path of transformation, renewal and rediscovering the divine spark within,” Lourdes said.

As a public servant, Lourdes engages with inmates at the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility, homeless people at Father Joe’s Village, and patients at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest. She also volunteers with the Diocese of San Diego and completed the Diocese Jail Chaplaincy Certification course last year.

“My personal mantra through the years, which helps me daily, is the constant reminder that I am at the bottom serving others, with an open heart, open mind and open hands,” she said.

Through science, public health, faith, and — as a grandmother and mother of two — family, Lourdes has dignified a lifetime commitment towards serving others.

When she became a servant, she again adapted her personal mission statement into the one that she follows today: “I am dedicated to the realization of human and spiritual potential through service in God’s name.”