A back arrow

All Articles

Excellence and innovation

Excellence and innovation

Staff June 16, 2024

Faculty do more than teach their students. They bring to the educational experience heart, curiosity, patience, energy and innovation.

2406_facultyexcellence_incopy.jpgTheir contributions are so vital that excellence and innovation is one of three fundraising priorities during the We Soar campaign. Along with increased access and hands-on learning, Flyer faculty and staff excellence distinguishes a UD education.

One faculty member who embodied this was Anne Crecelius ’07. A professor of health and sport science, Crecelius first came to UD as an undergraduate studying exercise science. In 2013 she returned to campus, where she taught and conducted research in the physiology lab for nearly 10 years.

“Mentoring students is probably the top joy I get out of my job as a faculty member at the University of Dayton,” she said.

Crecelius died Feb. 26, 2023, at age 37 after a long battle with breast cancer.

When Dave McCarthy ’71 and Norma Whitacre McCarthy ’71 met Crecelius several years ago, they were impressed by her drive to create an engaging learning environment. The McCarthys’ gifts to UD include state-of-the-art technology to study anatomy and physiology, and the naming of the Dave and Norma McCarthy Integrative Human Physiology Lab.

Upon Crecelius’ death, the University established a fund in her name. It will provide annual awards to teams of two or more faculty or staff from different programs, departments or University divisions for projects that advance excellence in learning, teaching and mentoring in innovative ways. So far, donors have committed  nearly $287,000 to the fund.

“Dr. Crecelius had an unwavering passion for research, teaching and life,” said Paige Kompa ’22 when she was a senior pre-medicine major. “She was the most selfless person I knew. … Her research and science came second to her life lessons. From Dr. C, I learned about wisdom, hope, compassion and an unrelenting fire to make the most of today.”

Campaign gifts to support excellence and innovation are also helping faculty and staff with scientific writing, genetics research, urban poverty initiatives and more.

In so many ways, the good work of Crecelius and countless others are providing students with an unparalleled education. And thanks to gifts that support excellence and innovation, the education of our students will continue to soar.

 

Photos and video by University of Dayton Media Production Group. 

 

A lasting impact

Summer club