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The first recipient of the Class of 1981 Endowed Scholarship, an English major, was honored to meet his benefactors in person, expressing his gratitude for their generosity and support. |
"It’s the relationships you build, the sense of community, and it goes past generations—it’s so powerful, that sense of community. It’s also an environment where learning is not just required, it’s encouraged—you’re going to have to actively participate, which is not always the case at other colleges. It makes you a better employee, citizen and friend, and enriches you in all sorts of ways,” said Susan Frear, BA ’81, when discussing the reasons she and her classmates Mikail McIntosh-Doty, BA ’81, and John Donnelly, BA ’81, banded together to create the Class of 1981 Endowed Scholarship and inspire their friends to contribute. The scholarship was awarded to its first recipient during the class’s 40th reunion celebration on Alumni and Family Weekend in October 2021. Read more at udallas.edu/past-generations.
For the Greater Good
The father of seven children, Illinois State Senator William Haine led a career in public service marked by a heartfelt concern for the greater good and significant contributions to his communities both local and statewide. He — along with his wife, Anna — instilled in their children the love of truth and justice that was foundational to his work and to their family life. Six of his children would go on to further cultivate this love at UD. Anna Haine said of her late husband, “He always had an acute sense of responsibility for the well-being of his community.” This sense of responsibility persisted throughout Haine’s life and career, and it is what led his former law partner, Randall Bono, to establish the Senator William R. Haine Leadership Scholarship in Haine’s honor. Read more at udallas.edu/for-the-greater-good.
Mind, Body and Spirit
When Trustee Jean (Daudelin) and Marty White, both BA ’86, considered how the resources of their classmates and them-selves might best be put to use at UD, they approached the problem as parents. Jean White said, “As parents, you want your chil-dren to have resources. With COVID, much had to be focused on physical health, but now we need to look at how to also enrich spiritual and mental health.” With this need in mind, the Whites began collaborating with the university's 10th president, Jonathan J. Sanford, shortly after he assumed the presi-dency in 2021. As they worked together, the idea of the One Body, One Spirit Endowment was born, with the ultimate goal of providing more resources to assist students with both physical and mental health needs. Read more at udallas.edu/mind-body-and-spirit.
Essential to Irving
UD Trustee and City of Irving Councilman Al Zapanta and his wife, Rochelle, have been parishioners of UD’s Church of the Incarnation for many years, which helped to cultivate their love of the university as an essential part of the Irving community. Along with his family, Zapanta now has endowed the Honorable Albert C. Zapanta and Family Scholarship for City of Irving Residents to further strengthen the connection between the university and the city. According to Irving City Manager Chris Hillman, “It really is all about the students — it’s about helping them succeed, and specifically for Irving residents, Irving students, to succeed, and that really does show the love and the compassion and the care that Al and his entire family have for the City of Irving.” Read more at udallas.edu/essential-to-irving.
A Special Challenge
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Bob Wood’s passion for teaching extended beyond the classroom; he was consistently the most requested professor for doctoral advising, by students interested in every branch of philosophy. |
A prolific writer, beloved teacher and world-renowned philosopher, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Robert E. Wood — “Bob” to his colleagues — has gifted the university not only with more than 40 years of teaching, but also with an endowed scholarship in his name and a contribu-tion from his personal library. The Robert E. Wood Institute of Philosophic Studies Scholarship benefits married philosophy stu-dents in the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts Institute of Philosophical Studies (IPS), UD’s doctorate of liberal arts program, by providing student stipends beyond tui-tion. Wood’s creation of the scholarship was no doubt influenced by his own experience of being a nontraditional graduate student at Marquette University in the 1960s, as well as his sympathy for married graduate students at UD. “Dr. Wood had a very small house on two landscaped acres that he would rent out to students. And he ended up renting it out year after year to married students. And I think through doing that, he came to see what a special challenge it is to be working on a Ph.D. while being married — and the special financial challenges,” said Joshua Parens, Ph.D., dean of Braniff Graduate College of Liberal Arts and director of the IPS. Read more at udallas.edu/a-special-challenge.
A Remarkable Mind
Created by John D. Alvis, Ph.D., BA ’95 MA ’97, his wife, Megan (Healy) Alvis, BA ’97, and his sisters, Sarah R. (Alvis) Godinez, BA ’99, and Catherine F. Alvis, BA ’05, in memory of Catherine, Sarah and John's father, the Dr. John E. Alvis Memorial IPS Fellowship Fund will, like Wood’s scholarship, support Ph.D. candidates enrolled in the Braniff Graduate School’s Institute of Philosophic Studies. John E. Alvis, BA ’66 MA ’69 PhD ’73, passed away on Dec. 23, 2019, at age 75, less than two weeks after the passing of his wife, Sara Kathleen, MA ’71, to whom he was married for more than 50 years. The late Alvises left behind John D., Megan, Sarah and her husband, Catherine, and eight grandchildren—as well as a powerful legacy at UD, where John E. Alvis taught for 50 years. “We have lost the treasure of John's mind,” said Professor of English Scott Crider, Ph.D., upon John E.’s passing. “Our disorientation at the loss is matched only by our gratitude at the gift of the mind he made, then gave us.” Read more at udallas.edu/a-remarkable-mind.
A Special Place in My Heart
Marty Sheridan, BA ’77, originally worked with her brother and sister-in-law to create a scholarship in memory of their nephew, Timothy Sheridan, after Tim’s death at age 38 in July 2020 due to COVID-19. She recently moved forward to endow the Timothy Andrew Sheridan Memorial Scholarship Fund in University Theater. Marty has no children of her own and always shared a unique bond with Tim, her youngest nephew, who loved all aspects of theater and had a degree in drama from the University of Southern Maine. He lived in Astoria Queens, New York, and worked for the city, but spent most of his free time working and volunteer-ing at Gallery Players Theater in Brooklyn. Therefore, the scholarship is specifically for students who are involved in drama at UD in some way. “Tim always held a special place in my heart,” said Marty. “I think he would be pleased that we’re helping drama students.” Read more at udallas.edu/a-special-place-in-my-heart.
