Illinois State University President Al Bowman and his wife, Linda, with Kenneth A. and Mary Ann Shaw.
Illinois State University faculty members Gina Hunter and Daniel Breyer received the Kenneth A. and Mary Ann Shaw Teaching Fellowship.
Faculty members Daniel Breyer and Gina Hunter are the first recipients of the newly established Kenneth A. and Mary Ann Shaw Teaching Fellowship at Illinois State University. Each will be awarded $3,500 for professional development.
“The campus community is grateful to Kenneth and Mary Ann Shaw for their significant investment in teaching excellence at Illinois State University,” President Al Bowman said. “For years to come, our faculty members and by extension our students will benefit from their generosity.”
Kenneth Shaw ’61 is a retired president and chancellor of Syracuse University. His 40-year higher education career began at Illinois State where he assisted former Presidents Robert Bone and Samuel Braden. He has also served as president of the University of Wisconsin, chancellor of Southern Illinois University, and president of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Mary Ann Shaw has been a long-time supporter of education and served as a reading specialist for many years. She helped create the Syracuse University Literacy Corps and the Center for Public and Community Service at the university. She played a key role in bringing a children’s hospital to the University of Wisconsin Madison and chaired a campaign to help establish the new Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse.
“The Shaw’s $100,000 gift recognizes teaching excellence and will have an immediate impact on faculty in the classroom,” said Gregory Simpson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Breyer, an assistant professor of philosophy, plans to use the award to start a religious studies faculty forum and organize a religious studies conference. Hunter, an associate professor of sociology/anthropology, will work with faculty, students and alumni on the Old Main Project, analyzing and collecting the history of Illinois State’s first building, which stood for a century before being razed in 1958.
The fellowship awards two faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences each year with a minimum of $3,500 for professional development.
