Winifred O. Whelan

Winifred ("Win") O. Whelan (born March 5, 1931) is an American nun, member of the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF), academic, writer, and Wikipedian. She was born in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

Whelan graduated from Alverno College with a bachelor's degree in 1950, majoring in Latin. She earned a master's degree in theology from Marquette University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Northwestern University in 1985. Her Ph.D. thesis was about the evolution of language in Catholic liturgy; it "received critical acclaim and helped elevate her reputation as a thought leader in her field". Her career, which has focused on education and religious scholarship, began as a teacher in elementary schools in Wisconsin and Illinois, a role that "laid the foundation for her lifelong commitment to teaching". She taught high school Latin and theology in Wisconsin and Mississippi; after Vatican II, when more opportunities opened up for women religious, she worked in parishes in Illinois, including serving as the director of religious education in the Chicago area, "where she played a pivotal role in shaping religious instruction and community outreach".

After earning her Ph.D., Whelan became a professor at St. Bonaventure University. She served as head of the university's theology department and worked there until her retirement as a professor emerita in 1997. Her work there "was marked by a deep dedication to teaching and research". She wrote articles for academic journals about religious education and "how the Church could respond to its obligation to be an effective teacher". After her retirement, she taught English in Chile for six months. She studied linguistics "to deepen her understanding of language's role in religion", and was a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the College Theology Society. Whelan led a project to write and publish interviews with sisters from her order and has written several book reviews.

Whelan has written biographies of women in religion on Wikipedia as a member of its Women in Religion project, including those of Marie Pauline Brenner, a fellow member of the SSSF also based in Chicago, and Mary Corona Wirfs, who was Mother Superior of the SSSF from the 1940s to the 1960s. She has been called " a persistent advocate for women's presence in religious history...[who] addresses gender bias on the platform by increasing the representation of women in religion, driven by her belief that the individuals about whom she writes should be appreciated for their many meaningful contributions". As of 2026, Whelan was writing a chapter in a book on indigenous religions about Calixta Gabriel Xiquin, a Guatemalan Mayan spiritual guide.

Whelan enjoys photography as a hobby and has won several awards over the years. In June 2025, she celebrated 75 years as a consecrated sister. She currently lives in Chicago.