Philanthropy Drives Excellence Through Saint Mary’s Endowed Chairs

Endowed chairs are a measure of prestige and achievement in academia. For a college the size of Saint Mary’s, to have six is quite noteworthy. 

Established and maintained through significant philanthropic gifts, an endowed professorship is an academic position that is considered one of the highest honors a faculty member can receive. At Saint Mary’s, endowed chair positions recognize and support faculty members whose teaching excellence and commitment to students exemplify education at its best. The endowment of a position helps to underwrite the annual salary and benefits of the chairholder, fund scholarly research, support special programs, and provide unique opportunities for students.

The first endowed chair at Saint Mary’s was established in 1988 and the most recent in 2010. Here’s a look at each of the endowed chairs, their origin, and the current chair holder.

Bruno P. Schlesinger Endowed Chair in Humanistic Studies

Named after Bruno P. Schlesinger, this chair was established in 1988 in the Department of Humanistic Studies with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Schlesinger, who founded the humanistic studies major at Saint Mary’s in 1956, originally called it the Christian Culture program. Modeled after the British cultural historian Christopher Dawson’s suggestions for a liberal education, this unique program continues to draw new students each year.

Schlesinger, who taught at Saint Mary’s for 60 years, was the first to hold the endowed chair. In funding it, the College sought to “increase the stature of the College, and enhance the quality of academic life” by hiring more faculty, expanding the program’s offerings, and allowing Schlesinger to “develop new courses integrating the humanities and our pre-professional training.”

“It’s an honor to be associated in this way with the name of Bruno Schlesinger,” said current chairholder Professor Philip Hicks, who joined the College in 1989 and was appointed to the chair in 2017. “Bruno, and his successors Gail Mandell and John Shinners, did so much to turn a remarkable one-man department into the vital program it is today.”

The Schlesinger chair has funded overseas trips to Madrid and Rome, where Hicks studied art, architecture, and history of the Baroque period. “It is a tremendous advantage to be able to describe to students my firsthand experience of the buildings and paintings that we study in class,” he said.

The position also allowed Hicks to conduct a research trip to London for his latest book, a study of radical historian and feminist Catharine Macaulay (1731-91). While at the British Library, he examined historical documents, including original letters written by King James I. Hicks continues to teach full time, and is perhaps best known for his class “The History of Famous Women,” which includes a unit on Macaulay as a friend of Abigail Adams, both wife and mother of a US president. 

Joyce McMahon Hank Aquinas Chair in Catholic Theology

A generous gift in 1997 from alumna Joyce McMahon Hank ’52 led to the second endowed chair at Saint Mary’s. The chair is held now by Anita M. Houck, professor of Religious Studies and Theology, who was installed in 2019.

Hank graduated from Saint Mary’s with degrees in philosophy and art. Houck remembers a memorable conversation with her at a luncheon years ago. “Mrs. Hank was so passionate about providing the best education to Saint Mary’s students, and especially about being sure each student had a deep and thorough grounding in the liberal arts,” Houck said. “I was intimidated, but I never forgot that conversation.”

Today, the chair provides Houck with research funds (one of her research areas is religion and humor, including Aquinas’s teachings on the importance of good humor in the Christian life) and sponsors the annual Aquinas Symposium in Theology, which brings in scholars for a public lecture and conversations with students and faculty.

Every year when Houck introduces the Symposium speaker, she says, “I recall the goal she identified for the chair in Theology that she endowed: to ‘enhance each student’s search for truth regardless of her chosen field,’ and to ‘give their lives both roots and wings for the future.’ It’s humbling to be part of that vision Mrs. Hank had for every student at the College.”

Hosting the Symposium speakers is a wonderful way to connect with scholars doing creative work on Saint Thomas Aquinas, Houck said. The speakers’ impact includes showing how much Aquinas has to say on issues that matter in contemporary lives. 

In addition to the public lecture, the speakers meet with students in class and over lunch. “I’ve loved seeing the discussions that arise around students’ questions and concerns about theology and the implications of the scholars’ work, but also about life after college, justice, and more,” Houck said.

Mary Lou and Judd Leighton Chair in Music

The Mary Lou and Judd Leighton Chair in Music has brought prestige and recognition to Saint Mary’s College and the Department of Music, both locally and across the country, said initial chairholder Nancy Menk, professor of music.

“The Leighton name is widely recognized and respected in the South Bend community and on our campus. I am very honored to be the first holder of this chair,” Menk said. Mary Lou Leighton was generous with her time and financial support of the College. She and her husband, Judd Leighton—known for their support of the arts and culture of the surrounding South Bend community—chose to ensure the prominence of the music program with the gift that established this chair in 1998. 

Menk, who joined the College in 1984, is also the music department chair. She has used the annual stipend provided by the Leighton chair to help pay for professional recordings of Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir (now Belles Voix) which have been sold worldwide and are on streaming services. She has also used the funding to commission new choral works for women’s voices for the College’s choirs, to help support Saint Mary’s students in several Carnegie Hall concerts under Menk’s direction, and to provide extra experience to choir students on their biennial tours.

The chair’s funds have also supported the choirs’ invitations to perform at several American Choral Directors Association regional conferences and one national conference, as well as Menk’s attendance at international choral conferences. These experiences allow her to discover new choral repertoire from all over the world and to get to know international colleagues.

“These tours are wonderful because they reconnect us with SMC alumnae everywhere we go, and we get to meet potential students as well,” Menk said.

Edna and George McMahon Aquinas Chair in Philosophy

Held by Michael Waddell, professor of Philosophy and Autism Studies, the Edna and George McMahon Aquinas Chair in Philosophy was established in 1999 by another generous gift from alumna Joyce McMahon Hank ’52.  An emerita member of the Board of Trustees, she was awarded an honorary degree by the College in 1995.

The chair is named in honor of Hank’s parents: Edna McMahon, a teacher in Chicago public schools and George McMahon, a scientist and inventor. Through the chair, the College honors the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas and ensures they will be known among new generations of students. Hank previously gave the College funds for the endowed chair in her name in Catholic Theology. 

Waddell, who was installed as chair in 2010, said the main benefits of the endowed chair are a slightly lighter teaching load and enhanced resources for research. Currently, Waddell is studying philosophical and theological issues relating to autism. 

The chair also provides funds for an annual lecture on the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. “This lecture has allowed us to bring some of the most important Catholic philosophers in the world to Saint Mary’s,” Waddell said. This year, in honor of the 800th anniversary of Aquinas’ birth, the McMahon Aquinas Lecture co-sponsored a “once-in-a-generation” conference devoted to the thoughts and teachings of Thomas Aquinas. Held in September at the University of Notre Dame, the conference had over 500 registrants and featured more than 160 presentations—including one by Waddell—on the enduring relevance of Aquinas’ thoughts.

The opening keynote address served as this year’s McMahon Aquinas Lecture, Waddell said. It was delivered by Jean Porter, a Notre Dame professor of Theology who Waddell described as “one of the most important scholars of Aquinas, and a woman in a field where women are underrepresented.”

The conference—and especially the opening keynote address—provided the Saint Mary’s community with “an extraordinary opportunity,” noted Waddell. “I appreciate being able to use the financial resources of the endowed chair to do good things for the College, whether it be hosting the annual McMahon Aquinas Lecture, bringing in other speakers on topics of current interest, or hosting reading groups for students and faculty,” Waddell said. “I know these are the kinds of things Joyce McMahon Hank wanted to happen at Saint Mary’s. It is a privilege to make them happen.”

Denise DeBartolo York Chair in Science

Christopher Dunlap, associate professor of Chemistry, is the College’s newest appointee to an endowed faculty position. In August 2024, Dunlap took over the Denise DeBartolo York Chair in Science.

Denise DeBartolo York graduated from Saint Mary’s in 1972, and joined her father’s real estate development company. There she ascended to co-chair of the company and in 1999, as the owner and co-chair of the San Francisco 49ers, she became one of the first woman executives in the NFL. York and her husband, Dr. John C. York, endowed the chair at Saint Mary’s in 2003 to reflect their deep commitment to strengthening women’s education in the sciences.

The endowed chair has several benefits, Dunlap said, including allowing him to highlight STEM both on campus and off. “Having the endowed chair means that people from outside the College can see how much STEM is valued by the College and can perhaps encourage others to support the very successful programs we run in the STEM division,” he said. “As department chair, I was always asked to help make the argument, and I hope that as the Endowed Chair, I can continue that work.”  

Outside of the prestige, there are marked financial benefits. Dunlap said his department’s budget will get some relief, because the chair provides funds for his salary and research, conference travel, and research materials. Students will benefit from Dunlap funding their work in the research lab. Having stepped down as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics after 12 years, Dunlap plans to increase his research. 

“I will be increasing my research program with the funding provided,” he said. “My research involves investigating the fate of antibiotics (amoxicillin, ampicillin, etc.) in the environment. In particular, we are interested in the presence of the degradation products of antibiotics in soil and natural water as markers of pharmaceutical pollution.”

Marjorie A. Neuhoff Chair in Nursing Science

This chair’s endowment came in 2010 from a gift made by the estate of Marjorie A. Neuhoff, Class of 1961. Neuhoff, who died in 2008, was a double major in business administration and economics. She spent much of her career as an executive assistant to the CEO of Cox Broadcasting in Atlanta.

The endowed faculty chair position, which is currently vacant, was last held by Sue Anderson when she was chair of the Department of Nursing Science from 2021 until earlier this year when she left the College to move to the West Coast. She continues to serve as interim Neuhoff Chair until the College selects a replacement. 

During her time as chair, funding from the endowment allowed Anderson to develop faculty as teacher/scholars and to recruit some of the best faculty in the field. It also helped her collaboratively begin the first Master of Science in Nursing “direct entry to nursing practice” program in the state of Indiana, and further develop the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

Anderson said the funding allowed her to send faculty and students to conferences, as well as attend some herself to further develop as a leader and advocate for faculty and students. Nursing Science is the largest academic program at Saint Mary’s, offering bachelor of science in nursing (BSN), master of science in nursing (MSN), and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degrees.

“I was really proud to hold the chair,” said Anderson. One of her favorite privileges associated with the post was wearing the medallion for Commencement. “I was so proud to wear it. But even more, I was proud to represent a woman who selflessly donated to Saint Mary’s College with the intent of improving the teaching and leadership skills of the faculty.”