Leadership Timeline

1842–1849

“Education for All’

Mary Baldwin University finds its origins in the work of Rufus W. Bailey, who established Augusta Female Seminary in 1842. As head of the school for the first seven years of its history, he gave it stability, character, integrity, and a local reputation that must have been largely responsible for its survival in the difficult years ahead.

A native of Maine, Bailey graduated from Dartmouth in 1813 and earned his master’s degree at Andover Theological Seminary. Eventually, he moved south, and during a time when there was substantial division among states — Bailey found himself straddling the line between northern and southern ways of life. Ultimately, his staunch belief in education for all resonated throughout his work in the southern states.

Shortly after arriving in Staunton in the summer of 1842, Bailey approached local ministers and influential members of the community, proposing to establish Augusta Female Seminary under Presbyterian auspices, but open to all eligible young women. The first location of the seminary was in rented space in a building on New Street, and the inaugural class numbered 50 students. Bailey oversaw the construction of the Administration Building (still in use today), which was complete in September 1844. After leaving the school in 1849 due to health reasons, Bailey died on April 25, 1863, in Huntsville, Texas.

Bailey’s scholarly interests varied, but perhaps most important was his avid support of educating women, a radical idea at a time when most Americans viewed extensive education of women with unease, thinking that it would be a strain upon their sensitive natures. In his book, Daughters at School a series of letters written to his daughters in the 1830s — Bailey showed a high opinion of the intelligence of women and championed their ability and right to make their own decisions based upon their own judgments.

One of his first pupils was the 12-year-old Mary Julia Baldwin. She was greatly influenced by her teacher and would carry his philosophy of high academic standards, devotion to Christian principles, and belief in community responsibility forward in the school’s development.

1855-1914

“Making and Marking History“

Joseph Waddell was a well-known historian, newspaper editor, and leader in Staunton. When his father died in 1855, Waddell replaced him on the Augusta Female Seminary Board of Trustees. Soon afterward, he was made clerk of the Board, an office he would hold for the next 50 years. At the height of the Civil War when the school was in danger of closing and no man could be found to run the school, it was Waddell who proposed the idea of appointing co-principals: Mary Julia Baldwin and Agnes McClung, his sister-in-law. A cataclysmic national event, two women’s proven abilities, and one man’s war-time proposal thus combined to give the seminary its beloved leader and future namesake. In 1908, Waddell wrote the first history of Mary Baldwin Seminary.

1863-1896

“Namesake and Heroine”

Born October 4, 1829, Mary Julia Baldwin’s young life was burdened by several tragedies, though this sequence of events set her on a path toward Staunton and Augusta Female Seminary.

She suffered an illness as a child that paralyzed one side of her face. (Because of this disfigurement, Baldwin never permitted portraits or later photo- graphs to be taken of her.) Baldwin’s mother died in 1837, leaving her an orphan, and she moved in with her grandparents in Staunton. At age 12 she was among the first students who enrolled at the new Augusta Female Seminary.

After graduating first in her class, Baldwin returned often to teach Sunday school and for additional studies in French and music. In the mid-1850s, she began to teach young black children to read and write, which was illegal at the time, and later she opened her own girls school in town called the Bee Hive Academy. In 1863 seminary leader Joseph Waddell suggested that Baldwin, as academic and operational head, and Agnes R. McClung, as main housekeeper, face the daunting task of leading the seminary during the midst of the Civil War. The two women hired teachers, established the curriculum, purchased supplies and equipment, set tuition, and cared for students, all within the background of the war years’ day-to-day struggle. Baldwin even invested her modest inheritance into the school to pay off debts and remodel, also pledging to divide any future profits between herself and McClung.

In the early years of her administration, Baldwin often taught eight hours a day. She felt the weight of her responsibilities and devoted herself to making a success of her students and her school, while staying good-humored, sincere, and loving. In 1876, Baldwin and William Holmes McGuffey from the University of Virginia created the Seven Schools College Curriculum, which included moral science, music, English, math, modern languages, ancient languages, and history. Baldwin personally selected all the faculty, and from 1880–89 she added a librarian, secretary, and assistant principal to support the school’s growing population and reputation.

In the 1880s and 90s, the seminary increasingly referred to as “Miss Baldwin’s School” held a regional reputation for academic excellence, physical beauty, and moral leadership. Its survival, through the Civil War, Reconstruction, economic distresses in the 1870s and 1890s, and Victorian-era social and cultural dilemmas, was considered in large part due to Baldwin herself. In 1895, the Board of Trustees requested that the Virginia General Assembly rename the school Mary Baldwin Seminary in her honor.

Baldwin died on July 1, 1897. The school’s population had reached about 250 students, a remarkable number for that time, and she left the Board of Trustees all of her property and assets, without which the seminary would have had difficulty staying open. Even in death, her devotion to her school never wavered.

1863-1880

“Nurturing Leader”

Joining Mary Julia Baldwin in leading the seminary during the Civil War and Reconstruction, Agnes McClung was also the sister of a very well-known Presbyterian minister and used this familial connection to increase patronage to the school, which helped it stay open during tumultuous times.

She became head of the boarding department at the seminary in 1863, furnishing all the students’ rooms, but her deeds and interactions with students exceeded her job title. Many viewed McClung as the grandmother of the school, as she provided comfort to students who lived away from home and offered her own room as a place of refuge for frightened girls during the war, especially those times when intruders appeared on campus.

McClung was often described as kind, generous, and affectionate, and Mary Julia Baldwin considered her a confidant as well as a colleague. When she died in 1880, McClung left her dear friend all the personal property they had acquired jointly. The school was in a healthy financial state, in large part due to McClung’s financial management.

1890-1936

“Making Campus Beautiful”

When he became secretary of Augusta Female Seminary in 1890, William Wayt King brought with him a business background and was able to translate that knowledge into campus transformation over the next several decades.

Born in Augusta County in 1864, King rarely left the Shenandoah Valley or the Commonwealth of Virginia. He attended Hoover Military Academy and later went to the Dunsmore Business College, both in Staunton. After he graduated, King initially took a job in the county treasurer’s office as deputy treasurer before he joined the staff at the seminary. After Mary Julia Baldwin’s death in 1897, the Board of Trustees made him business manager.

King used the school’s budget to make campus a more beautiful and well-planned place, helping secure funding to build the Academic building and many of the residence halls which are still standing today, including Memorial, Hilltop, and McClung. He is also the namesake of King Residence Hall, built as a gymnasium, auditorium, and pool for the college’s centennial celebration.

1929-1945

“Advancing a Four-Year College”

A Georgia native, Lewis Wilson Jarman came to Mary Baldwin in 1929 from Queens College, where he had been serving for two years as vice president and dean of instruction. He and his family moved into what is now Rose Terrace at the top of Market Street.

He assumed the presidency at a strained and difficult time as the transition to the four-year liberal arts college curriculum was far from complete. Enrollment was down, tensions remained within the community and alumni about the closing of the seminary, and the failed fundraising campaigns of the preceding decade postponed plans to build a new college physical plant.

Through the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, Jarman led the school through its first accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; changes in administrative staff and faculty; growing the library; strengthening the curriculum; and the founding of important, ongoing traditions such as student government, the Honor System, Charter Day, and Founders Day.

Even as World War II loomed, Jarman led the effective planning of the college’s centennial celebrations. As Jarman delivered the centennial Commencement address on June 6, 1942, he acknowledged the war and national stress, but he affirmed

that Mary Baldwin had begun its second century with the confidence that the challenges of the present would once again be overcome.

1932-1970

“Connecting with Students”

Students today first learn of Martha Stackhouse Grafton because of the library on campus that bears her name. But her rise in influence and office through out her time at the institution has earned her the moniker “the Mary Julia Baldwin of the 20th century.”

Originally from South Carolina, Grafton graduated from Agnes Scott College and was recruited to Mary Baldwin by President L. Wilson Jarman. Grafton was hired as registrar in 1932, appointed dean of instruction in 1938, and eventually became dean of the college. Ten years after she was hired, Grafton was appointed assistant to the president and helped with internal affairs of the college during World War II. When Jarman suddenly became ill, the Board of Trustees appointed Grafton acting president. She took on this role again in 1953, 1965, and 1968.

During her tenure at Mary Baldwin, she married Thomas Grafton, a professor of sociology. Her legacy also includes her important role in crafting the honor system.

Traveling the country to meet with alumnae, Grafton successfully raised enough funds to expand the college. The old Kings Daughters Hospital was transformed into a new dormitory, Rufus W. Bailey Residence Hall (where the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted building is now located). Shortly after the new library was named in her honor, Grafton retired in 1970, remaining a close friend and supporter of the institution for the rest of her life.

1957-1968

“King of Campus Expansion”

Thanks to the fifth president of Mary Baldwin College, Samuel Reid Spencer Jr., students were able to live in two dorms that did not previously exist, eat in a larger and more gracious dining hall, attend classes in a building designed for science, and enjoy a comfortably large library.

Spencer was born in 1919 in Columbia, South Carolina. His background made him a perfect candidate for the presidency of the college: he was brought up in a staunchly Presbyterian family; attended Davidson College; University of California, Los Angeles; and Harvard University; and worked as dean of students, history professor, and the president’s assistant at Davidson starting in 1951.

When Spencer, his wife, Ava, and their three children arrived at Mary Baldwin College in 1957, he was part of the younger generation and able to see what was needed to revitalize the school. Although it cost approximately $6 million, Spencer replaced many aging structures on campus — including Sky High, the infirmary, the covered walkway, and the Chapel — with new structures that were necessary for the growing college. Mary Baldwin opened Lyda B. Hunt Dining Hall in 1961, and the dormitory that would become Margaret C. Woodson Hall opened in 1963 along with Spencer Hall. Students honored the president by petitioning to name the new residence hall after him. The Board of Trustees agreed and the Samuel Reid Spencer Jr. Residence Hall was dedicated in September 1943. Although Jesse Cleveland Pearce Science Center and Martha S. Grafton Library were not completed during Spencer’s presidency, they were built thanks to his plans. He nearly tripled the size of campus by 1970.

In 1968, Spencer resigned to become president of his alma mater, Davidson. After his departure, Mary Baldwin continued to honor his legacy by establishing the Samuel R. and Ava Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement in 2007. The college enjoyed his wise counsel until he passed away in October 2013 at age 94.

1952-1981

“Breaking Down Barriers”

Patricia Menk, a history professor since 1952, was asked to help develop a plan of administrative reorganization during the mid 1970s to resolve growing tension among students, faculty, and staff. For example, physical plant employees received a day of recognition for all they did to keep the school running smoothly. And Hunt Dining Hall’s service switched to buffet style to allow more classes to be scheduled throughout the day.

Menk made these initiatives while serving as President William Watkins Kelly’s administrative assistant, in addition to her teaching duties. When he left Mary Baldwin, Kelly recommended that Menk serve as interim president. During her temporary tenure in office, she championed the purchase of Staunton Military Academy, which would more than double the size of the Mary Baldwin campus overnight.

Outside the grounds of Mary Baldwin, Menk also received both a master’s degree and a PhD from the University of Virginia when it was still an all-male institution at the undergraduate level. She was also the first woman elected to Staunton City Council and served as mayor from 1964 to 1966. It was in this capacity that Menk became the lone vote against leveling parts of downtown to build a mall.

Each year the Menk Award is given to a MBU professor in her honor as well as her husband’s (Karl Menk, a former Mary Baldwin microbiology professor). Her own education began at Florida State University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Menk also authored To Live in Time: The Sesquicentennial History of Mary Baldwin College 1842–1992 and served as the Mary Baldwin historian until her death in 2012.

1964-Present

“Wise and Measured Leadership”

Tennessee native James D. “Jim” Lott arrived at Mary Baldwin in 1964 to join the faculty as instructor of English, and for more than 20 years in the classroom, he invited students to fall in love with literature and philosophy.

In 1986 President Cynthia Haldenby Tyson appointed Lott as dean of the college, calling upon him as a trusted and admired member of the Mary Baldwin community to be a bridge between the faculty and administration. He held that position for 15 years until his retirement in 2001. Lott has also continued his unparalleled service to the university with a 16 year and counting term on the Board of Trustees.

During his time at MBC, Lott effortlessly balanced intense academic and administrative focus with a lighter side, lending his vocal talents to the holiday singing troupe the Baldwin Balladeers and acting in theatre department productions. In appreciation of his wisdom and dedication to Mary Baldwin, Lott received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Non-Student Award in 2015.

A scholar of 18th century English literature, Lott earned degrees from the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Wisconsin. He is also an accomplished creative writer whose poetry and short fiction have been published in many well-known periodicals and collections.

Menk also authored To Live in Time: The Sesquicentennial History of Mary Baldwin College 1842–1992 and served as the Mary Baldwin historian until her death in 2012.

1976-1985

“Summoning Perseverance and Seeing Potential”

As the seventh president of Mary Baldwin College, Virginia L. Lester acted decisively and with keen entrepreneurial drive, setting a course of innovation that expanded the college both physically and programmatically and carried it successfully through tumultuous financial times.

Under Lester’s leadership, Mary Baldwin created the groundbreaking Adult Degree Program (ADP) in 1977, the first of its kind in Virginia. Though ADP was initially conceived of as a way for alumnae to finish their degrees, it soon expanded in scope to serve women and men throughout the state with an extensive curriculum, backed by the reputation and expertise of Mary Baldwin. Lester also conceived of the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted, although its first year of implementation was left to President Cynthia Haldenby Tyson when she arrived in 1985.

In 1976 Mary Baldwin purchased the grounds of the former Staunton Military Academy, building the college’s capacity for the future. The property, consisting of almost 35.5 acres, 14 buildings, and playing fields, more than doubled the size of campus.

Also during her tenure, Mary Baldwin added new market oriented majors, including business management, economics, sociology/social work, communication, and arts management; forged an alliance with Doshisha Women’s College in Japan; and improved some of the facilities, including a successful campaign for Deming Hall.

Lester grew up in Philadelphia, and she attended Penn State University as an undergraduate and then earned a master’s degree at Temple University and a PhD at the Union Graduate School. Before coming to Mary Baldwin, she worked at Skidmore College and also helped create Empire State College’s adult degree program.

When she resigned from Mary Baldwin in 1985, she attended to some “unfinished business” by enrolling in Stanford University’s law school at the age of 54, proving wrong one of her undergraduate advisors, who had told her she was not smart enough to go to law school. After earning her law degree, she became interim president at Friends World College and also worked in the general counsel’s office of AARP and taught leadership and legal issues to PhD students at George Washington University. She passed away on November 10, 2016, in Alexandria.

1983-Present

“Converting Information into Answers”

Lewis D. Askegaard came to Mary Baldwin in 1983, beginning a more than 30-year career at the university during which he has infused his many roles with a signature wit and sharp eye for detail. At one time he claimed no fewer than three titles: registrar, dean of institutional research (a position created just for him), and associate dean of the college.

Askegaard has maintained critical enrollment statistics for the institution, expertly guided Mary Baldwin through numerous critical Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation processes, and contributed to critical higher education studies such as the National Survey of Student Engagement. A major player in strategic planning conversations, he was instrumental in gathering information that led to the creation of Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences.

In his role as registrar, Askegaard provided guidance to countless MBU students, patiently helping them navigate general education and major/minor curriculum requirements. To thank him for serving in this and other vital roles, he was immortalized in a mural leading to the registrar’s office in Wenger Hall, and many have affectionately suggested renaming Mary Baldwin as “Lew U.” In 2014 he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Non-Student Award at Commencement.

As President Pamela Fox summarizes, “Lew’s leadership is fundamental, authentic and loyal, leading inconspicuously, intentionally, and incrementally to sensible, yet sagacious decisions.”

Askegaard earned a BA, MEd, and PhD in educational research and evaluation from the University of Virginia. Prior to his tenure at Mary Baldwin, he was a public school teacher and administrator and also worked three years for the U.S. government in Iran. His family is also closely tied to Mary Baldwin: his wife, Beverly, is director of the Learning Skills Center, and his son, John, is an alumnus.

1985-2003

“Expanding Campus and Curriculum”

After becoming Mary Baldwin’s eighth president in 1985, Cynthia Haldenby Tyson created a vision statement that reiterated the values of institutional cofounders Rufus Bailey and Mary Julia Baldwin. She had come to the United States from Lincolnshire, England, as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Tennessee. A mother of two, Tyson was also an elder in her Presbyterian church and eventually became a U.S. citizen.

During her presidency, the first class matriculated in the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted, allowing very gifted girls between the ages of 12 and 17 to start college early. Curriculum continued to expand in 1992, when Mary Baldwin created its first graduate program, the Master of Arts in Teaching. In 1995, Tyson welcomed the first cadets in the Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership, which remains the nation’s only all-female corps of cadets.

Thanks to a dynamic relationship between Mary Baldwin and the American Shakespeare Center, and the efforts of Professor of English Frank Southerington and renowned Shakesperean scholar Ralph Cohen, the college launched the Master of Letters and the Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature and Performance in 2001. During Tyson’s tenure, Mary Baldwin also expanded its Adult Degree Program, creating satellite locations throughout Virginia.

Under Tyson’s leadership, campus once again grew and trans- formed: King Gymnasium became a residence hall, and renovations were made to Memorial and Hill Top halls and the academic building, which received its new name, Carpenter Academic, in honor of alumna Leona Bowman Carpenter ’35. Tyson also extended the boundaries of campus by purchasing the Staunton YMCA, which would become the Physical Activities Center. In 1992, the school dedicated the William G. Pannill Student Center, a large multi-purpose building aimed at providing a place for the student body to congregate.

Tyson retired in 2003, leaving behind a diverse, energetic college poised for future expansion.

1995-2012

“Leading by Example”

Founding director of the Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership (VWIL), Brenda Bryant also served Mary Baldwin as dean of students and senior vice president for enrollment management and administration.

For 18 years she was a remarkable administrator, beloved colleague, inspired teacher, mentor, role model, creative partner, and friend to many in the Mary Baldwin family. She passed away in 2012 after a courageous battle with breast cancer. As VWIL director, her responsibilities included planning, policy making, and assessment. She was particularly noted for her compassion, her interest in the development and success of every cadet, and her physical fitness.

With Bryant’s guidance, VWIL gained national prestige and effectively trained both military and civilian leaders. She quickly earned respect from decorated veterans, including her associate, VWIL Commandant of Cadets Col. N. Michael Bissell, and was the first woman to be named president of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools in the United States.

Bryant earned a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in education from Catholic University, and an undergraduate degree in political science from Vassar College.

2003-Present

“Visionary for the Future”

A pianist and musicologist, Pamela Fox has set out from day one to compose a vibrant future for Mary Baldwin.

She became the institution’s ninth president in April 2004, leaving the Miami University of Ohio, where she spent 20 years, first as professor of musicology and eventually rising to the rank of dean of the School of Fine Arts. Though she was born in Texas, she spent much of her life in Ohio, earning all three of her degrees from the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. She has published and presented extensively on her musicology research and has been elected to numerous key national higher education boards.

Since coming to Mary Baldwin, Fox created an initial 10-year strategic plan titled Composing Our Future and led the development of a new strategic plan, Mary Baldwin 2020, which envisions a small, distinctive university with a host of programs that carries forth its historic legacy and values in alignment with emerging opportunities and markets.

Under her leadership Mary Baldwin has committed to an inclusive community, upholding the cherished traditions as a leading women’s college, cultivating innovation and academic excellence, enhancing civic engagement and global citizenship, and building the Mary Baldwin campus of the future. Fox also has worked to strengthen Mary Baldwin University’s relationship with the Staunton community and beyond. In 2007, she oversaw the opening of the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement.

The global economic crisis brought challenges to the college in the years 2009 through 2011, but in 2012 Fox announced two major initiatives: bringing the Heifetz International Music Institute to Staunton, with a new home on the Mary Baldwin campus, and the creation of the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, which opened in 2014 on a new campus in the heart of Augusta County’s thriving Blue Ridge Life Sciences corridor, offering Mary Baldwin’s first doctoral degrees.