Reverend John Fabian Cunningham, OP

PROVIDENCE -- Cunningham, Rev. John Fabian, O.P., 78 died Monday at Rhode Island Hospital. He was a member of the Order of Friars Preachers, the Dominican Community at Providence College, and a former president of the College.Born John Scott Cunningham in Providence, a son of the late Hugh Stephen Cunningham and the late Marie (Scott) Cunningham, he graduated from La Salle Academy in 1945 and in 1950 received his B.A. in classics from Providence College, where he was enrolled in the pre-ecclesiastical program. In 1946 he entered the novitiate of St. Rose Priory in Springfield, Ky., where he received the religious name Fabian. A year later he made his simple profession. He also studied at St. Joseph's Priory in Somerset, Ohio from 1947-1949. In 1953 he was ordained to the Dominican Order by Most Rev. John M. McNamara, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, D.C., at St. Dominic's Church in Washington.After earning his bachelor's, licentiate, and lectorate degrees in Sacred Theology from the College of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Fr. Cunningham was assigned to teach Philosophy at St. Joseph's Priory and at St. Stephen's College in Dover, Mass., as well as Theology at Mater Dei College in Ogdensburg, N.Y. He received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of St. Thomas (Collegio Angelicum) in Rome, Italy in 1958, the year he joined the faculty of Providence College as a professor of Philosophy.In the half century that he lived and taught at PC, Fr. Cunningham held many administrative positions, including president of the College from 1985-1994. He also served as co-founder, assistant director (1959-1965, 1967-68), and director (1965-1967) of the Liberal Arts Honors Program; Director of the Humanities Program (1963-1965); Director of Residence Life (1967-1970); Dean of Undergraduate Studies (1971-1974); member (1982-1994) and treasurer (1985-1992) of the Corporation; member of the President's Council (1985-1994); member of the Board of Trustees (1992-1994); first president of the Faculty Senate (1968-1969); and founder of the Southeast Asian Scholarship Program (1985), renamed the Cunningham Scholarship in 1994. Fr. Cunningham performed over the years in numerous PC theatrical productions. Providence College renamed a residential building Cunningham Hall in 1994. The many other awards and distinctions conferred upon Fr. Cunningham during his long career include PC Student Congress Man of the Year Award (1971); City of Providence Outstanding Citizen Award (1985); La Salle Academy De La Salle Distinguished Service Medal (1992); PC Veritas Medal and Class Ring (1994); the establishment at PC's Feinstein Foundation of Cunningham Internships in Community Service (1994 and 1995); Brown University Walter H. Annenberg Fellowship in philosophy (1995); La Salle Academy Hall of Fame (1996); St. Pius V Parish Veritas Award (2001); and PC Asian Alumni Gift of Appreciation (2002).Within the Dominican Community, Fr. Cunningham was a member of the Province of St. Joseph Provincial Council (1980-1988) and, while on leave of absence from PC, Vicar Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph and Socius to the Provincial at St. Vincent Ferrer Priory in New York, N.Y. (1980-1984).Among Fr. Cunningham's many professional memberships were Delta Epsilon Sigma, a national scholastic honor society for Catholic colleges and universities; and Alpha Epsilon Delta, an international premedical society. His civic affiliations included National Conference of Christians and Jews; R.I. Philharmonic Orchestra Friends Society; Providence Public Library Board of Trustees; R.I. Anti-Drug Coalition; R.I. Supreme Court Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee; Dominican Leadership Conference; Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce; Providence Preservation Society; and Providence/350 Jubilee Commission.He was the brother of the late William Cunningham.The Solemn Reception of Father's body and visitation will be Wednesday at 4:00pm in St. Thomas Aquinas Priory Chapel, Providence College. The Office of the Dead will be chanted by the Dominican Community at 7:00pm. A Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial will be Thursday at 10:00am in St. Dominic Chapel, Providence College. Burial will be in the Dominican Community Cemetery. Memorial donations to The Cunningham Scholarship, c/o Providence College Office of Institutional Advancement, St. Martin Hall, Providence, RI 02918 in his memory will be appreciated.