Leading Couple Support Women's Leadership
The road to Mundelein College was a long one for Jeanne LaPlace (BA '74), but one that has led to over 20 years of dedication and service to Mundelein and the Ann Ida Gannon, BVM, Center for Women and Leadership. Mrs. LaPlace, along with her husband, Desmond, have further demonstrated their commitment to the Mundelein legacy by making a $250,000 bequest to the Gannon Center.
Mrs. LaPlace is pleased with the development of the Gannon Center, "It encourages women to be leaders," she says. "It began very small and has picked up more and more students and research scholars. I want to see the Center become even larger."
Mrs. LaPlace's own leadership journey began in Boston, when she was working in the library system at Harvard University. She met her husband there, while he was still a student at Harvard College. "I decided to take her out instead of the books," Mr. LaPlace explains. After graduating, he earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School, after which he entered the office products industry. The couple was married and moved to New York, where Mrs. LaPlace worked as a technical secretary at an engineering association.
In 1968, Mr. LaPlace accepted a new job in Chicago and the couple relocated to the Midwest. Mrs. LaPlace decided that the time was ripe to finally get her degree. "When we came to Chicago, I was trying to find a school that I could attend part time during the day. Most didn't accept students like that," she relates. Northwestern University referred her to Mundelein College, which was near her home in Chicago.
"I found a wonderful school."
Mrs. LaPlace majored in English. As a life-long lover of books, she thought it was a dream come true to read wonderful books while earning a degree. Being an older student made it harder to connect with classmates, but made her more focused and driven to excel in her classes. Although Mundelein's all-female student body wasn't a deciding factor in her decision to enroll there, Mrs. LaPlace thought that women had greater opportunities to become leaders in a women's college.
After graduating from Mundelein in 1974, she enrolled in the Division of Humanities at the University of Chicago and earned a Master of Arts degree in English.
Then, in 1986, Mrs. LaPlace was invited to join the board of trustees of Mundelein College. After the 1991 merger with Loyola University Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. LaPlace became members of the President's Advisory Council for the Ann Ida Gannon, BVM, Center for Women and Leadership. The couple is now on the advancement committee for the Gannon Center, which was very active in raising money for the restoration of Piper Hall. "I personally have very fond memories of student life at Mundelein College and I feel indebted to the BVMs," explains Mrs. LaPlace of the couple's service and gift.
"I think it is very deserving and worthwhile in the development of women leadership," says Mr. LaPlace, of the Gannon Center. "We rank it very high among the organizations we support."
