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Ann Ida Gannon, BVM, and Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., first met when they both served on St. Louis University’s board of trustees in the 1970s.
ANN IDA GANNON • BVM
THE TRAIL G
BLAZING
rowing up in Rogers Park in the early 20th century, Ann Ida Gannon frequently walked past the construction site of Mundelein College. At the time, she had no idea that
she would one day preside over the college and play a critical role in its accreditation. After graduating from high school in 1933, Gannon rejected a scholarship offer from Mundelein and entered the convent with the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She completed her degree and started teaching, earning her PhD in philosophy from St. Louis University. She returned to Chicago and taught at Mundelein, be- coming president in 1957 until 1975. She focused on making educa- tion accessible, starting popular weekend programs for women and adult learners who could not attend traditional full-time programs. Gannon’s intellect, integrity, and force of will led her to take a pio-
neering role in women’s leadership. She was the first woman to be elected president of the Religious Education Association and the first person to have chaired both the Association of American Colleges and the American Council on Education. After a lifetime of achievement and success, Sister Gannon retired
this fall. Her name will live on at Loyola through the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership, started in 1993 by Carolyn Farrell, BVM. A center devoted to supporting and strengthening the leadership of women could not ask for a more fitting name.
Now take the graduates 10, 15, or 20 years out of school, who are getting to a certain point in their careers. Few of the top- paid people are women, and, as you say, that number has not grown much in the past 20 years, which happens to be the 20 years that the Gannon Center has been in existence. Is there any effect we can have on the people who are running these companies? Can we do anything to effect change from the top down? • Dawn Harris, who was the interim director here, worked with colleagues from two other universities to do a systemic review of businesses. We didn’t have a national database on CEOs and positions of responsibility leading up to the CEO position. Dawn and her colleagues looked at VP and CIO positions to find out where women are in the pipeline, at what size companies, in what industry, and she’s now doing a follow-up study. What are the best practices to develop the pipeline for women? How can our center help solidify that pipeline? Can we develop a network of organizations across the country that will support women in terms of continued professional development and keep them revved up so that they will meet the responsibilities of CEOs? And we need to look at the services that support young families.
There are lots of young professional women who reach a point in their family life or career where they have to make a decision be- tween one and the other. And then, if they want to go back to work when their children are grown, is there a place for them? I heard recently that for every year that a woman takes off to take care of family responsibilities, it’s equivalent to five years of salary increases she misses out on. Why should people have to make that kind of choice? Shouldn’t we look at a society that really values children and really values mothers and fathers? That’s the kind of advocacy our center can focus on. We can help shape governmental and social practices that would enhance the quality of life for all people.
How do you see the Gannon Center in relation to Loyola and to Mundelein? • I like to look at the Gannon Center as carrying on the legacy of Mundelein College through our programs, through our interactions, and through the development of the leadership of women. I see in the Gannon Center the legacy of holistic knowledge and service we had at Mundelein. Ann Ida Gannon has been one of my personal mentors ever since I met her when I was 18 years old. Or take Sister Carol Frances, who led work with Cesar Chavez and with the United Farm Worker movement. We weren’t just boycotting lettuce and grapes, but asking ourselves, “How are we going to work on behalf of migrant farm workers who deserve to have human rights and workers rights?” It’s the holistic, transformative education we had at Mundelein
that we now have through the Gannon Center. We get to work for the common good every single day. We get to shape young people and organizations so that we can really be of service to the world, and so that people can see the presence of God in our actions.
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