08/28/2026
Meet Dick Ullrich, the recipient of this year’s Rising Star Award. Dick met the Marianist Brothers and Priests in 1952 when he was a teacher and the first lay Vice Principal at Cardinal Gibbons High School in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
In 1967, Brother Bill Abel, SM, asked him to establish the Office of Justice and Peace for the then New York Province of the Society of Mary. At that time the Office of Justice and Peace primarily advocated by using the Province’s stock holdings to change unjust or harmful corporate practices. Through the sharing of mutual ideas, concerns and social programs of the Lay Communities, the Marianist Sisters, the Cincinnati, St Louis and Pacific provinces of the Society of Mary, together initiated the beginning of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative in 1998 (MSJC). Dick served as our organization’s very first director!
He then rejoined MSJC in 2024 and has continued to increase his commitment to our justice work. Dick currently attends team meetings for the following Justice Teams: Death Penalty Abolition and Restorative Justice, Immigrant Justice, Integral Ecology, LGBTQ+ Initiative, and Women & Justice. It is Dick’s desire to be involved as much as possible with the work of our organization. He makes a concerted effort to assist with projects across the teams he is involved with, including multiple liturgical events for the LGBTQ+ Initiative. Dick also does a ton of advocacy work on his own time. He uses his ability to work remotely to make our world a more just and welcoming place. Thank you Dick!
