Santa Clara University

Sally Vance-Trembath, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Sally Vance-Trembath was born in Davenport, Iowa where she was raised Catholic.  She majored in Theology and English at St. Ambrose University the local Catholic college.  She taught high school religion in Clinton, Iowa and Seattle, Washington before entering the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana where she earned her MA and doctoral degrees.  She was an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame before was an Assistant Professor at USF, where she taught in graduate and undergraduate students.  While at USF, she also taught in the ICEL program.  She is now a lecturer at Santa Clara and also works in adult formation at the Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton.  Her specialization is the Church, particularly the Second Vatican Council.  She is married and has twin sons who are 20 and a daughter who is 25.  Her husband Kern is an Episcopalian and so she is familiar with inter-denominational dialogue.  Her first publication was in Theological Studies entitled "John Paul II's Ut Unum Sint and the Conversation with Women" in 1999.  Her latest is "Theologies in Dialogue: The Place of Religion in the 21st Century University," published in Consensus: A Canadian Lutheran Journal of Theology in 2006. She was national the Vice-President of Voice of the Faithful, the lay organization that was formed to respond to the abuse of children by clergy and the leadership crisis in the Church.  She has appeared frequently on television and radio to talk about Catholic issues.  She is a member of St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco where she is active in various ministries.