A Brief History of the Alumni Chair in Humanities
Eugene August, 2001
Updated by Patricia Johnson, 2009

The history of what is now called the Alumni Chair in Humanities dates back to at least to the early 1980s and is rooted in the formation of the Core Program. This program, created by a dedicated group of Humanities faculty, achieved an extraordinary integration of required courses in English, History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. The Core program, however, had a drawback: by its nature, it depended upon a small group of faculty members working together closely, and thus it could enroll only a comparatively small number of students, usually about 120 per year. The faculty and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences began to dream of ways to extend the benefits of interdisciplinary study to larger numbers of faculty and students.

With the stimulus of faculty members such as Dr. Michael Payne (Philosophy) and with the guidance of Dean Frank Lazarus, the College submitted a proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities in the mid-1980s. On 15 December 1986, Dean Lazarus announced that the NEH had awarded a Challenge Grant to support "an endowed professorship in the Humanities". The three-to-one Challenge Grant of $300,000 required the university to raise $900,000 by 1990 in order to realize the grant's full $1.2 million potential. Because this challenge was met to a great extent by the generosity of University of Dayton alumni, the professorship became known as the Alumni Chair in Humanities.

As planning for the position progressed, the chair holder's work was focused less on the Core Program and more broadly on the task of demonstrating through interdisciplinary measures the centrality of the humanities to the intellectual life of the university. Eventually, the chair's duties were defined to include teaching one course per term in the humanities, organizing and serving as keynote speaker for an annual humanities symposium, conducting scholarly research in the humanities, assisting other faculty in developing interdisciplinary courses, and managing a humanities library fund. Each Alumni Chair would hold the office for four years.

The search for the first Alumni Chair in Humanities began in 1992. Candidates were required to be tenured senior professors with a record of teaching excellence, scholarly achievement, and interdisciplinary interest. In February 1993, Dean Paul Morman announced the selection of Eugene August (English) to the position.

"We wanted to create on campus an office that would symbolize the importance and tradition of the humanities", said Dean Paul Morman in 1993 when defining the role of the Alumni Chair. "We have a long tradition here of trying to educate the whole person", he added. "The humanities play a key role in that". The history of the Alumni Chair's office represents an extended endeavor to realize that vision.

The beginning of Dr. August's term as Alumni Chair coincided with the opening of the new, 16 million-dollar Jesse Philips Humanities Center. On 25 August 1993, the workers still putting the finishing touches to the Sear Recital Hall and other parts of the building, the new Humanities Center opened on schedule for classes. To mark these events, the university hosted a year-long celebration of the humanities with concerts, exhibitions, dramas, departmental symposia, and guest speakers. The building itself was dedicated on 26 October 1993 with ceremonies that included an address by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel.

With the opening of the Humanities Center, the Alumni Chair's office on the fourth floor became the hub for the planning and implementation of numerous interdisciplinary activities, including courses and mini-courses, residence hall discussions, an essay contest, dramatic presentations, concerts and library acquisitions. Carolyn Ludwig was responsible for the efficient handling of the multiple tasks involved in the operation of the office.

The first Humanities Symposium was held on 28 February and 1 March 1994, in the Sears Recital Hall. The theme of the symposium, "Faith, Reason, and the Life of the Mind", addressed one of the four themes in the Humanities Base, a university-wide program designed to enhance interdisciplinary connections among required humanities courses. Activities included a keynote address, a "Meeting of the Minds" panel exchange, a visual art lecture-slide presentation, and a faculty panel discussion. Later symposia addressed the other three themes in the Humanities Base.

In 1997, Michael Barnes (Religious Studies) was appointed the second Alumni Chair in Humanities. While continuing many of the projects established by the office, he also introduced numerous innovations. In particular, seed money was made available for creative endeavors by faculty members, including drama writing and production, art and poetry performances, residence hall presentations, and a human rights program. Content of the chair's interdisciplinary courses and of the symposia focused on topics that coincided with Dr. Barnes's ongoing research and publications. The Alumni Chair's office also provided much-welcomed computer training and assistance to faculty members befuddled by the latest advances in electronic technology.

In 2001, Richard Benedum (Music) was appointed as the third Alumni Chair. During his tenure (2001-2005), he created a web page for the office of the Alumni Chair, and brought a state-wide and national presence to the office. He brought representatives from the Ohio Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities to the UD campus, thereby encouraging colleagues to also write grant proposals. During his tenure as Alumni Chair, he was also appointed to a position on the Ohio Humanities Council. He continued his record of writing successful local, regional, and national grant proposals; throughout his teaching career at UD, he received more than 250 grants totaling nearly $3 million.

In 2005, John Heitmann (History) was appointed as the fourth Alumni Chair. Using the overall topic of "Cities in Perspective", he developed symposia along interdisciplinary lines, connecting speakers with pressing contemporary issues and upper level General Education offerings. The first year focused Ken Jackson, author of Crabgrass Frontier, on exurban population shifts; the next year focused on the city and the environment and featured Diane Wilson, author of An Unreasonable Woman. The third year examined New Orleans and Katrina two years after the storm. It featured Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jed Horne (author of Breach of Faith), Catholic youth minister Ansel Augustine, and musician J.D Hill. The fourth symposium featured Chelsea Sexton, one of the featured personalities in Chris Paine's Who Killed the Electric Car. Sexton discussed alternative energy and environmental impact. A second speaker, Jim Rubenstein, lectured on the automobile industry and the future of the Midwest. Linked to the symposia were curriculum developments related to the formulation and delivery of a new course involving several faculty from a number of departments, "Cities and Energy". The term as Alumni Chair also enabled him to complete work in the area of automobile history, including the publication of The Automobile and American Life.

Eugene August
1993-1997

Michael H. Barnes
1997-2001

Richard Benedum
2001-2005

John Heitmann
2005-2009