By Gretchen Keiser

Sister Roberta Schmidt, CSJ, who has been Superintendent of Schools for the archdiocese for the past two years, has been appointed by Archbishop Thomas Donnellan to the joint post of schools superintendent and Secretary for Education.

She succeeds Father Richard Kieran who was named pastor of Holy Family parish in Marietta four weeks ago.

Sister Roberta, who is a native of Kansas City, Mo., and a former college administrator in Missouri, Alabama and Texas, becomes the first woman to serve as the head of an archdiocesan department which, traditionally, have been headed by members of the clergy.

She will be responsible for coordinating the work of three different offices within the Department of Catholic Education: the Office of Catholic Schools, which oversees 13 elementary schools and St. Pius X High School; the Office of Religious Education which coordinates adult and youth religious education throughout the archdiocese; and the Office of Campus Ministry serving campus Newman Centers.

Sister Roberta came to the archdiocese as schools superintendent, succeeding Sister Valentine Sheridan in 1980. Prior to that, she had been dean for academic affairs at Southern Benedictine College in Cullman, AL, the school created by the merger of Cullman and St. Bernard Colleges. The facility closed in the summer of 1979 due to declining enrollment.

A recipient of a master's degree and a doctorate in sociology from St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO, Sister Roberta served as chairman of the sociology department and later as president of Fontbonne College in St. Louis. During the early 1970s, she was executive director of the United Colleges of San Antonio, TX, working with the presidents and boards of trustees of four Catholic colleges in San Antonio in cooperative ventures.

Much of her background in administrative planning will be put to use in her new position. One of the tasks ahead will be to "be an effective agent in the implementation" of one of the archdiocese's recently released list of five top priorities, Sister Roberta said. The second priority concerned helping parishes to "promote adult faith growth" through adult education, to develop youth ministry and to secure qualified religious education coordinators.

Within the Office of Catholic Schools, Sister Roberta said she would continue "working with schools in the financial development sector."

In addition to her posts at the Catholic Center, Sister Roberta serves on the executive board of the Atlanta Conference of Sisters and is a board member of Atlantans for International Education, a group concerned with awareness of Third World issues in the United States. She also serves on the UNICEF Board in Atlanta.