Martha E. Church
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Martha E. Church | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1931 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 2019 (aged 87–88) |
| Occupations | College president and professor |
| Known for | President of Hood College |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Wesley College University of Pittsburgh University of Chicago |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Geography |
| Institutions | Hood College Wilson College |
Martha E. Church (1931 – January 27, 2019 ) was an American geographer, professor, and college president.[1] She was the first female president of Hood College.[2][3]
Church was a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[4] She was the daughter of Eleanor Boyer and Walter S. Church.[5][6] Her father was a civil engineer and the superintendent of construction for Duquesne Light.[6] Her mother was the president of Wellesley College's Alumnae Association.[3][7] Her family were Presbyterians.[3]
Church graduated from Peabody High School in Pittsburgh.[8][9] She had three degrees in geography.[4] She received a B.A. in geography from Wesley College in 1952.[7] She also received an M.A. in geography from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Chicago.[10][5] In 1959, she was awarded a fellowship by the Educational Foundation of the American Association of University Women; she used to award to study geography at the University of Chicago.[11]
Career
She was a geography instructor at Carlow University and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.[10][8] She was a faculty member of Mount Holyoke College from 1953 to 1957.[8][9] She was an assistant professor at Wesley College from 1958 to 1963.[10][9] Church was a professor of geography and dean of the college at Wilson College from July 1965 to 1971.[12][8][9] In 1970, she was elected to a three-year term as the associate executive secretary of the Commission of Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1971.[10][8]
Church was a consultant for a high school geography project that was sponsored by the National Council of Geographic Education and the American Association of Geographers.[8] She was one of three people appointed to compile and edit a list of atlases, journals, and textbooks for the American Association. of Geographers, a project funded by the National Science Foundation.[8]
Church became president of Hood College on August 1, 1975, and served in this capacity through June 30, 1995.[2][4][8][13] Under her leadership there, the college's endowment grew from $3 million to $39 million.[3] In total, the five-year fundraising campaign raised $47 million.[3] She also added several buildings to the campus, including the Beneficial-Hodson Library and Information Technology Center, the Hodson Science link, the Joseph A. Pastore Facilities Center, and the Lawrence Marx Jr., Resource Management Center.[2]
After she retired from Hood College, Church worked to reform secondary education in China as a part-time senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[4][13]
Professional affiliations
In 1989, Church was elected to the board of trustees of the National Geographic Society.[3][13] She also served on the Board of Trustees of the National Geographic's Education Foundation.[13] She was the treasurer of the National Council for Geographic Education and the secretary/treasurer of the New England–St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society.[3] She was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Women Deans and Counselor.[8]
Church served on the boards of Bradford College and the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey.[14] She was the chairman of the board of trustees of Hood College from 2006 to 2008.[15]
Awards and honors
Church received a distinguished teacher award at Wilson College.[10] In June 1971, she received an honorary doctor of science degree from Lake Erie College.[5]
Before her retirement in 1995, the road leading to Alumni Hall on the college campus was named Martha E. Church Drive.[4][3] Hood College also gave her an honorary doctorate in 1995 and named her president emeritus.[4][15] It also commissioned a portrait of Church that hangs in the lobby of Alumni Hall and a bust of Church that is displayed in its Beneficial-Hodson Library.[4] In addition, the faculty of Hood College endowed a scholarship in her name.[4]
After her death, Hood College named the Martha E. Church Center for Community & Civic Engagement in her honor.[1]