The Story of Dr. Stephen Conroy
The importance of following your passions
Mariana Combariza / Contributor / The USD Vista
Raised in Kansas with a strong, Catholic upbringing, Dr. Stephen Conroy’s religious background was constantly at the forefront of his mind. With a family that took Catholicism seriously, Conroy learned at a young age the value of religious tradition.
However, Conroy never envisioned himself wearing a baptismal robe in the future, as his brother did. So, after graduating high school in 1983, he attended Creighton University with the intention of going the pre-dental route.
“It was either a Catholic university, or no university,” Conroy joked, emphasizing his parents’ urge for him to go to a religious institution. Despite taking all the necessary science courses at Creighton to apply for dental school, he committed to an almost seemingly unrelated major: economics.
“I took a class from a professor whom I really enjoyed, and he turned me on for econ,” Dr. Conroy shared. “I kept taking classes in it, because I enjoyed it, and then just eventually made it my major.”
However, Conroy’s learning wasn’t limited to Creighton’s classrooms. Motivated by his love for helping others and the sense of kinship that he felt with the missions and ministry students whom he interacted with, he went on a total of six service trips during his college years.
One trip was a two month stay in the Dominican Republic under Creighton’s Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC) program, which taught him more than any college course he had taken prior.
“That experience totally changed me,” Dr. Conroy recalled.
“I mean, I’m living with a family in the middle of the Dominican Republic with no running water, no electricity and lots of love and lots of faith. And I realized that what I thought was important really wasn’t,” Dr. Conroy expanded.
Conroy previously believed that material things, such as owning a nice house or living on a lake, were the determinants of having a good life. But that thinking quickly dissipated after spending a short time in this Caribbean country. Ever since then, faith and family have carried the banner of ultimate importance in his life.
Conroy’s spiritual awakening in the Dominican Republic was so radical that even after coming back to Creighton, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and working two years doing inventory control for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Conroy continued to wrestle with a sense of a greater calling. Hating his current job, Conroy began to wonder what he was truly meant to do with his life.
“I began to think, ‘You know, my older brother is enjoying this whole priestly thing — maybe I should be a priest!’ I was going to a daily mass at Hallmark, and I was like ‘this is where it’s at!’ And I hadn’t felt like that in all my life, because this is like my ‘brother’s thing,’ it’s not my thing… but then I started thinking maybe it is my thing,” Conroy shared.
Conroy decided to take a year of discernment soon after, spending four months in a Trappist Monastery in Missouri, before returning to the Dominican Republic as a coordinator for ILAC. After practicing his Spanish skills there, he returned to the U.S., where he worked for a year and a half at Angel’s Flight, a Catholic Charities organization for the homeless in L.A.
Conroy worked with lower income individuals, mostly from migrant backgrounds, and used his Spanish abilities to connect with them and serve them through various other Catholic nonprofits.
During his many years in community service, his vision for priesthood fell away after reflecting on a fundamental truth.
“I didn’t think I could be celibate and do it justice,” Dr. Conroy joked. “I’ve always wanted to have a family, so who was I kidding here? And I realized that I could do the life [of] a priest as a lay person. I can do direct service to the poor through homeless agencies. Or, like the Jesuits and Benedictines, I can do research at a university without giving up my desire to have a family of my own,” Dr. Conroy said.
Conroy discovered an urgency to influence public policy through research, and in order to do so, decided to continue his education by getting a master’s and doctorate degree in Economics at the University of Southern California. Now married and with two sons, Conroy managed to accomplish both a family life and a commitment to service through research and teaching that started in the early ‘90s.
“My primary feeling was that I was called by God to do this, to do research in homelessness,” Dr. Conroy said.
Although Conroy had his share of challenges in the academically heavy PhD program, and many times questioned his commitment to it, he always returned to his intuition.
“Each time I’d come back to this notion of doubt, I’d say ‘no, I think God wants me to be here, wants me to study this. I have to finish my dissertation.’ And so that really helped me get through a very difficult program for me,” Dr. Conroy said.
Conroy was ready to dive right into research once obtaining his degree, but his life plans were altered yet again after becoming a Graduate Teaching Assistant at USC.
“The first time I stepped into a classroom, I loved it. I felt like I was at home. And I thought, ‘I think teaching might be it for me,’” Conroy shared.
Since then, Conroy focused most of his career on teaching. Conroy spent five years as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of West Florida, before accepting a faculty position at USD in 2004. Admiring the presence of the Immaculata in front of him, Conroy admitted he was happy to make the change to a private, Catholic university, because he has the freedom to openly share about his faith to students in ways public universities do not allow.
Bathed by the shadow of his table’s umbrella, Conroy looked around the sunny University of San Diego campus where he has spent the last 18 years of his life as an economics professor, faculty director and even Associate Dean of the School of Business, taking in the beautiful scenery. Ever humble in his reflection of his time at USD, Conroy doesn’t mention that part of his legacy as a Torero Faculty includes several university awards and honors recognitions.
A mere sample of his accolades include the Outstanding Professor Award (2009), Professor of the Year Mens et Spiritus Award from the USD Honors Program (2015), Professor of Impact, MBA (2016), and Conroy has even been nationally recognized by the college magazine Poets&Quants as one of the Top 50 Best Undergraduate Professors in Business (2018).
Yet none of that seemed to matter much to Dr. Conroy. As he himself emphasized, if the service trip to the Dominican Republic all those years ago taught him, it was to ask: “How can I feel like I am making a difference in the world, how can I make a positive difference?”
Though his countless accolades are certainly proof of his impact on students and the college community, Conroy sees his opportunity to teach as the real award.
“I see this as a privilege, to be able to teach students. What an amazing opportunity it is for me to be able to try to not only teach economics, but also to convey what it means to me to be a Catholic, to be a member of a community at USD. To be part of something that is bigger than ourselves, with the church [the Immaculata] at the center of the university,” Dr. Conroy said.
From pre-dental student to wannabe priest, from community service leader to university researcher and educator, Dr. Stephen Conroy did not always know where he would end up, but he always walked the journey of life with a sense of purpose and trust.
“You have to be true to yourself, and God speaks to you through your interests. And I think that’s right — God wouldn’t set you up to be frustrated. If your interests are A, B or C, I can’t believe He is calling you to D. He is calling you to do something with A, B or C,” Dr. Conroy said.
Conroy reflects this in pursuing his passion for economics and teaching. He served those in need through his research and engagement in volunteer service. Conroy fulfilled his calling as a husband and father. Above all, Conroy aims to be used by God to make a difference in his community.
“I know I’m not Mother Teresa or Cesar Chavez,” Conroy reflected. “But I am making a difference in my own way, in the way God wanted me to make a difference… Overall, I’ve ended up in a good place, and I am happy with my life, and I’m looking forward to many more years as a professor.”