April 22, 2022
Mario R. DiNunzio, Ph.D. ’57
Professor Emeritus of History
DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES
Mario DiNunzio, Ph.D. ’57, professor emeritus of history, is one of the most distinguished faculty members in the history of Providence College.
Born in Woonsocket, R.I., Dr. DiNunzio arrived at Providence College as a student in 1953 to earn a bachelor’s degree in history. His impact on the college’s development and trajectory has been indelible. He began teaching at PC in 1960 while a doctoral candidate at Clark University. As an undergraduate, he aspired to a career as a radio announcer, but his experience in graduate school convinced him that teaching was a worthy and fulfilling profession. He became assistant professor in 1964, associate professor in 1968, and full professor in 1974. He was awarded emeritus status upon his retirement in 2009.
From the early days of his career, Dr. DiNunzio took an interest in college governance. He was a founding member and president of the college’s AAUP chapter. He served as an at-large member of the Faculty Senate for 30 years, beginning in 1968, and as president for the 1969-1970 academic year. During his Senate tenure, the college undertook some of its most consequential reforms, including the shift to coeducation and the implementation of the Development of Western Civilization requirement. Of the former, he was an enthusiastic supporter. Of the latter, he was an architect. He served as program director from 1987-1994 and two terms as acting director. He has taught DWC for its entire 50-year history and continues to teach a section of honors Civ each semester, even in retirement.
One of his most enduring contributions to the college is the American Studies Program, which he launched in 1980 with Brian Barbour, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English. American Studies remains a popular and rigorously interdisciplinary program.
Dr. DiNunzio is a scholarly authority on the history of the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. He has published five monographs on United States presidents, political theory, and the New Deal, and contributed to several other books and journals. In 1986, he served as director of research for the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention.
He faithfully served the college on a number of administrative committees and working groups, including five terms on the committee on academic rank and tenure. Dr. DiNunzio and his wife, Joan DiNunzio ’84SCE, who reside in North Smithfield, R.I., have two sons, Joseph DiNunzio ’90 and Thomas DiNunzio ’92, ’97G, and two grandchildren.
