The Arts at Queens Mural
I am pleased to introduce this special installation, The Arts at Queens Mural. The images displayed on the mural celebrate the Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts at Queens via the numerous former professors that have made a lasting impact throughout Queens’ history.
The Mural conveys the story of roots and branches symbolizing our commitment to the arts. Education and experiences are both roots and branches that are catalysts to a lifelong love of the arts and artistic contributions. We celebrate the individuals that were influences, mentors, and friends as well as the nurturing environment of talent found throughout the Queens community. Our alumni have gone on to inspire, heal, entertain, mesmerize, and provoke thought through their own paintings, ceramics, fashion, writings, and therapy inspired by the arts. This mural represents confidence in our future and the branches that will continue to grow and the leaves that will flourish!
We now invite you to explore the profiles of the individuals featured in the mural. The journeys and contributions of artists – our students, alumni, and faculty – are more examples of how we live out our motto, “Not to be Served, But to Serve”
Available for viewing
Thelma Albright
Beverly Allen
Cathy S. Bowers
Ann S. Gebhardt
James ‘Jim’ H. Glenn
Charles O. Hadley
Anna Hyatt Huntington
Edmund Lewandowski
Ada Limón
Phillip A. Moose
Marbury H. Brown
Deborah ‘Deb’ N. Campbell
Richard ‘Rick’ F. Crown
Richard ‘Dick’ T. Goode
Jane Hadley
Joseph E. Lammers
Pending Bios
Lynn M. Morton
Paul B. Newman
Paul A. Nitsch
Ben Pfingstag
Robert ‘Bob’ F. Porter
Emily Seelbinder
George A. Shealy
Robert E. Stigall
Elizabeth Strout
Cynthia H. Tyson
Frances J. McClain
Dorothy H. McGavran
Claudia Rankinen
Constance ‘Connie’ Rhyne-Bray
George A. Stegner
Laura L. Tillet
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Thelma Albright Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Dean of Students (1941-2000)
Assistant to the Dean of the College
Acting Director of Continuing Education
Associate Professor Emeritus of English
Other Queens and Personal Experiences:
Miss Thelma Albright became the Dean of Students at Queens in 1941. She was highly respected by hundreds of thousands of students throughout the six decades she devoted to Queens. Albright shared a deep passion for Queens and literature. In 1974, she received the Honorary Alumnae for all of her efforts made towards Queens University. There is also now a resident hall for students named after her.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Beverly Allen
Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens:
Queens University Alumni Association
Founder of the Interior Design Program
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
“In addition to her 30 plus years of design experience. Beverly Allen is involved in many aspects of the Charlotte community. Some of the boards she has served on are the Selwyn Life Center, The Charlotte Senior Center, Duke Mansion and the Junior League of Charlotte. Beverly is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, The Mint Museum of Art, Queens University Alumni Association, Myers Park Methodist Church and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. She is the Founder of the Interior Design Program at Queens University of Charlotte and has directed several studies abroad with the interior design students. Beverly has curated various design exhibits, lectured and moderated panel discussions on many design topics. She holds a Bachelor of Art in English Composition and Literature and a Master of Science in Interior Design.”
For more on Beverley Allen: Beverly Allen Interiors.com
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name: Cathy Smith Bowers
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens:
MFA Program Professor
Education and Training:
Winthrop University, BA and MAT
Last City/State Resided: Tryon, NC
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Cathy Smith Bowers found her urge to write as an English Teacher in high school. Bowers’s collections of poetry include The Love That Ended Yesterday in Texas (1992), Traveling in Time of Danger (1999), A Book of Minutes (2004), The Candle I Hold Up to See You (2009), and Like Shining from Shook Foil (2010). From 2010 to 2012, she was poet laureate of North Carolina. Along with having taught the low-residency MFA program at Queens, she also taught the same program at Wofford.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Ann S. Gebhart
Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Assistant Professor of Art 1973
Education and Training
BFA and MA from Ohio State University
Other Queens and Personal Experiences:
Ann Gebhart was born in Leavenworth, Kansas on March 13, 1916. Before receiving her BFA and MA from Ohio State University, she studied at the Lake Erie School for Women. Gebhart was known for her teaching and portrait painting. Her art was included in a exhibit at the Mint Museum of Art in 1951. She was also a member of the Charlotte Artists Guild.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Jim Glenn Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Associate Professor of Music 1989
Full Professor of Music
Chair of the Music Department 2007-2021
Education and Training
Assistant Professor of Music at Bradley University 1985-1989
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literary Former Faculty & Artists Profiles
Preferred Name – Charles Hadley Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Titles(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Queens Literary Arts Faculty – (1955-2006)
Education & Training
Davidson College, Phi Beta Kappa- BA (1949)
Fulbright Scholars (1949-1950)
Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill – MA (1952)
University of Georgia – PhD (1973)
Vietnam soldier U.S. Army – (1956 - 1958)
North Carolina Professor of the Year – (1999)
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Throughout his time at Queens, Dr. Hadley received several awards, including the Queens Teaching Award, the Hunter-Hamilton Teaching Award, and the Lily Scholar Award. IN 1987 he was designated an honorary alumnus at Queens and was named North Carolina’s Professor of the Year in 1999 by Case and the Carnegie Foundation. His office space was known to be a place for class, debates, and much more. To honor this space loved by many students and alumni, Queens took a large sampling of its contents and transferred it to the library, calling it the Charles O. Hadley Reading Room. The reading room is still loved and used by students to this day.
Dr. Hadley has also been a dialect coach and has worked with famous people, such as John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway, and Scarlett Johansen. He even was the dialect coach for the London cast of “A Streetcar Named Desire”. With all his experience in dialect coaching, he had been requested to do lectures on his experiences, as well as making appearances on television and radio interviews. One of those interviews was with Scott Simon for NPR’s “All Things Considered”.
Personal Reflection
"You know I taught you everything you know!" – Dr. Charles Hadley, various years
More about Charles Hadley: Dr. Charles O. Hadley Collection | Charles Hadley Obituary
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Anna Hyatt Huntington Last City/State Resided – Reddington, CT
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Sculptor of the famous Young Diana statue in the heart of Queens campus
Education and Training
Arts Student League, NYC
Private lessons with Henry Hudson Kitson, Boston MA
Other Queens and Personal Experiences:
Anna Hyatt Huntington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 10th, 1876. After being educated privately by sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson, she went on to attend the Arts Student League. Her first exhibit was held in Boston in 1900, where she presented forty pieces. In 1903, the Metropolitan Museum of Art made the first of its many acquisitions of her art. Huntington traveled to France in 1907 where she occupied a studio, receiving an honorable mention for her statue of Joan of Arc at the Paris Salon in 1910. In 1916, she became a member of the National Academy of Design (now the National Academy Museum). Huntington’s works include Dianna and the Chase (1922), El Cid Campeador (1927), and Don Quixote (1947).
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Edmund Lewandowski Last City/State Resided – Rock Hill, SC
Other Queens and Personal Experiences:
Following graduation, Lewandowski worked as a public school teacher and commercial artist while pursuing his painting. Following military service as an Air Force mapmaker and camouflage artist from 1942–1946, Lewandowski joined the faculty of his alma mater, the Layton School of Art, in 1947. From that time on, he divided his time between creating art and teaching another generation of aspiring artists. His teaching career took him to institutions throughout the United States, including Florida State University (1949–1954). Following his tenure at Florida State, Lewandowski returned to Layton as its director, remaining until 1972. Throughout these years, the artist would create and exhibit works on paper and canvas, as well as execute commissioned large-scale mosaic murals. In 1973, Lewandowski joined the faculty at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he would serve as the art department chair until his retirement in 1984.
More About Edmund Lewandowski: https://thejohnsoncollection.org/edmund-lewandowski/
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literary Former Faculty & Artists Profiles
Preferred Name – Ada Limón Last City/State Resided – Lexington, KY
Titles(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Queens Literary Arts Faculty- (2010 - 2022)
Education & Training
New York University, New York, NY – MFA in Poetry
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington – BA in Drama
Autumn House Poetry Prize – (2005)
Pearl Poetry Prize – (2006)
National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry – (2018)
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award – (2023)
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Ada Limón began her career upon her graduation, where she received a fellowship allowing her to live and write at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
During her time with Queens, Limón had a number of major literary accomplishments, such as the release of some of her most influential poems, Sharks in the Rivers (2010), State Bird (2014), The Burying Beetle (2017), Overpass (2017), and Privacy (2021), along with the collections Bright Dead Things (2015) and The Hurting Kind (2022).
Limón’s influences further spread with her involvement in the "24 Pearl Street" online program for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work and her reading for the Elliston Project at the University of Cincinnati coupled with video readings for the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s audiovisual archive. Limón was later appointed the 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in 2022.
Personal Reflection
Ada Limón is celebrated for her wide reach of influence, personalization, and authenticity in her poetry, which spans generations and genres.
More about Ada Limón: Ada Limón Wikipedia | Ada Limón Personal Website
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Philip Moose Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Art Professor 1956-1967
Education and Training
National Academy of Design 1940
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Philip Moose was born in Newton, North Carolina in 1921. From a young age, he knew the only thing he wanted to do was paint. After studying art at the National Academy of Design on a fellowship, he served in the military for WWII from 1942 to 1945. Throughout his time serving, however, he still continued to paint. In 1948, he was a Pulitzer Prize Winner for his art. Through awards and grants, Moose was able to travel throughout Europe before settling back in North Carolina. He first taught at Davidson College before coming to Queens. Many of Moose’s artworks have been displayed in multiple museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He’s mainly known for his realistic paintings in oil or watercolor.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literary Former Faculty & Artists Profiles
Preferred Name – Lynn Morton
Titles(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Vice President for Academic Affairs – (1997-2017)
Last City/State Resided – Raleigh, NC
Education & Training
University of North Carolina-Greensboro - BA
University of Nevada-Reno – MA in British Literature
University of South Carolina-Columbia – PhD in Renaissance and Medieval Literature
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Lynn Morton first started as a part-time instructor at Queens, then over time became the Vice President of Academic Affairs. She also served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the English department.
In 2017, she became the president at Warren-Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. She was the first woman president of Warren-Wilson. Morton was there until 2022, when she decided to retire. At the end of the 21-22 academic school year, she was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor a North Carolia governor can give for state service.
Personal Reflection
Along with students remarking Lynn Morton as “committed, passionate, and student focused,” she herself has said in relation to her as Vice President for Academic Affairs: “It’s (Queens) a very special place I’ve never found a place I’d rather be than Queens” – (2015)
More about Lynn Morton: LinkedIn Profile | Warren Wildon – Order of the Long Leaf Pine
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literary Former Faculty & Artists Profiles
Preferred Name – Paul B. Newman Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Titles(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Associate Professor of English 1963-1967
Professor of English, 1967-1989
Education & Training
University of Chicago – PhD
University of Iowa Writers Workshop – MFA
Served in the US Army Air Corps during WWII
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Dr. Newman published seven books of poetry and was a two-time winner of the RoanokeChowan Award and recipient of the Zoe Kincaid Award. He produced several films about poets that are archived at the University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collections
Personal Reflection
The Pantagraphs slide hissing down A copper green with verdigris, The pigeons rose contentedly
In crowds and gripped their limy feet
In fists and slapped the air. The rain fell down.
Black ironwood and stone lay glistening.
Contentedly we yawned and gaped at schedules.
Trains went on.
- “Particulars” from “The Cheetah and the Fountain” by Paul B. Newman. – (1968)
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Paul Nitsch | Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens:
Professor of Music 1977-
Education and Training:
D.M.A., Cleveland Institue of Music
M.Mus, B.Mus, Peabody Conservatory of Music
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Born in Kansas and raised in Colorado, Paul Nitsch studied piano with George Crumb, David Burge, and Paul Parmelee during his junior high and high school years. After earning his Bachelors and Masters degrees in piano performance at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, He was awarded two Fulbright Scholarship Grants for study with Dieter Weber and Noel Flores at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. In 1977 he became a part of the Queens faculty as a Professor of Music. Students of his have gone on to have incredible achievements, including enrollment at the most prestigious conservatories in the country and receiving top prizes at regional and local piano competitions.
More about Paul Nitsch: Queens Campus Directory: Paul Nitsch | Charlotte Magazeene: “Teacher to the Stars Paul Nitsch”
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name: Ben Pfingstag
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens:
Studio Art Art History Professor
Education and Training:
Binghamton University – MA and PhD
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Ohio State University
UNC Charlotte
Norwich University – professor of Studio Art/Art History at all three
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Ben Pfingstag is an art historian loved by many. He has worked with the American Association of University Women, presenting programs about women in art history. He’s explored the limitations and obstacles confronted by aspiring female artists in Europe between the years of 1500 and 1800.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Robert Porter| Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Professor of Art (1972-?)
Education and Training
BA Princeton University
PhD University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Robert Porter was born in Tennessee on July 14th, 1936. Along with teaching at Queens University, he also taught history at Virginia Tech. He also had a deep love for Rugby; in 1963, he started the Richmond Rugby Football Club. In his personal life, he enjoyed taking friends and family out on his boat in Lake Norman. Porter passed away at age 66 on December 9th, 2002. A service was held for him in Belk Chapel on January 2nd, 2003.
Dr. Emily Seelbinder came to Queens as a professor of English in 1989 (ahead of Hurricane Hugo) and remained for 30 years, retiring in 2019. Among her students she was reputed to be “the meanest, baddest English teacher on the planet.” Despite this distinction, Dr. Seelbinder twice received the Fuqua Distinguished Educator Award.
In 2007, Dr. Seelbinder received the Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award, which came with a generous fund that she deployed to provide opportunities for Queens students to enjoy close encounters with creative writers, artists, scholars, and musicians. Following her retirement, she established a new fund to launch the Seelbinder Literary Arts Series (an annual event) and to enhance the study of and appreciation for the literary arts at Queens and in our community.
As a teacher, Dr. Seelbinder sought whenever possible to expand the scope of Queens course offerings in literature, American studies, and general education. Among the courses she developed were The Harlem Renaissance, The US Civil War in American Imagination, African American Literature (now in the permanent rotation of course offerings), The Social Construction of Race in the Americas (with Linda Miller), Jazz and Democracy (with Connie Rhyne Bray), The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898, and an internationally recognized course entitled “Emily Dickinson & Her Descendants.”
Her scholarly pursuits have often combined her love of poetry, especially that of Emily Dickinson, with her love of music. She has published numerous articles on musical settings of Dickinson’s work, most recently a piece on artist Lesley Dill’s opera Divide Light, which appeared in The Emily Dickinson Journal in 2021. She has also been a frequent speaker in Charlotte, most notably for Opera Carolina’s production of Margaret Garner (libretto by Toni Morrison), and across North Carolina as a lecturer for the North Carolina Humanities Council.
Throughout her career, Dr. Seelbinder has been a strong advocate for student-athletes, especially women, whose opportunities have increased significantly since the days Dr. Seelbinder played college field hockey and basketball in a skirt! At Queens, she served as faculty liaison to the women’s basketball team and as a faculty leader for two international tours for Queens basketball teams. For over a decade, she also announced women’s basketball home games and numerous women’s and men’s tournaments, including the 2002 NCAA Division II Men’s Eastern Regional, during which she was behind the microphone for all but two of the seven games. “It was the best seat in the house,” she says. “The only drawback was not being able to cheer lustily for the home team. Now I can shout it from the rooftops: GO, ROYALS!”
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- George Shealy | Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Head of the Art Department 1960-1976
Education and Training
Indiana University 1927
Art Institute of Chicago (three years)
Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan (five summers)
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Art Teacher at Todd School for Boys, Woodstock IL
Set Designer at Gate Theatre, Dublin
Professor at St. Ambrose College, Davenport Iowa
George Shealy was born on March 4th, 1910 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating high school, he received his art education from multiple places, including Indiana University, Art Institute of Chicago, and Ox-Bow School of Arts. Shealy also served in the U.S. Army during and after World War II, from January 21st, 1944, to February 19th. 1946. In 1960, he was one of the judges for the 1960 America’s Junior Miss Contest n Biloxi, Mississippi. There, he met Dr. Ed Walker, who asked him to be the chair of the Art Department at Queens. There, he met Dr. Joyce Shealy, and they were married in 1961. Shealy headed the art department from 1960 to 1976. He worked hard and successfully, as acknowledged by many of his students.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literary Former Faculty & Artists Profiles
Preferred Name – George Stegner Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Titles(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Queens Music Department (1955 - 1986)
Chair of Music Dept. (1956 – 1986)
Education & Training
Maimi University, Ohio – B.Sc. in Business Administration
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music – B.A. in Piano | M.A. in Piano
Chicago Musical College – D.F.A.
WWII Chief Assistant US Army - (1943 – 1946)
Honorary Doctors Degree in Fine Arts – (2006)
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Dr. Stegner began his career at Bradley University (1948-1955)
Under Dr. Stegner's leadership, Queens University witnessed many milestones: a bachelor of music degree and music scholarship program; establishment of the Queen's European Summer Program; transition of the music department into the E.H. Little Fine Arts Center; institution of a cooperative program for music therapy students with the University of Georgia; and development of Friends of Music at Queens.
He was a longtime member on the boards of the Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte Community Concerts, Charlotte Opera, and Oratorio Singers. He wrote program notes and gave pre-concert lectures for the Charlotte Symphony for 37 years and directed the Symphony's annual musical tours (55 tours to 78 countries!))
Personal Reflection
Due to his tireless devotion to his students and craft, Dr. Sterger has been forever immortalized at Queens through the George Stegner Scholarship. May his passion for music be continued to be kept alive Queens University Community
More about George Stegner: George A. Stegner Obituary | Remembering a Friend of Classical Music in Charlotte
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Elizabeth Strout Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
Faculty of the Master of Fine Arts Program (MFA)
Education and Training
Bates College, Lewiston Maine
J.D. Degree Syracuse University College of Law
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Elizabeth Strout was born in Portland, Maine on January 6th, 1956. Her father was a science professor and her mother and English professor. She taught part-time at Borough of Manhattan Community College while working on her book Amy and Isabelle. When published, it was shortlisted for the 2000 Orange Prize and nominated for the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. It was also adapted into a television movie. Some other books she has written includes Olive Kitteridge, Abide With Me, and The Burgess Boys.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literacy Former Faculty and Artists Profile
Preferred Name- Robert Stigall Last City/State Resided – Matthews, NC
Title(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens:
Organ Professor for 24 years
Education and Training:
BA of Music for Organ- Syracuse University
MA of Sacred Music- Union Theological Seminary and Julliard
Other Queens and Professional Experiences:
Choral Institute at Aspen
Berkshire Music Festival
Music Committee Co-Chair at Myers Park Presbyterian Church
Co-chair of the Organ Committe at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
President of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians
Mr. Stigall was born on March 31, 1934 and graduated from Greensboro Senior High School. He received his Bachelor's of Music degree in Organ from Syracuse University and a Master's of Sacred Music from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary and the Julliard School of Music in New York City. He continued his advanced music studies in Europe, the Choral Institute at Aspen, and the Berkshire Music Festival.
Robert Stigall was an extremely gifted organist, playing for multiple conventions and national conferences throughout his life. He had a deep, vast knowledge of the instrument, only fueling his passion even more. He also shared a deep love for sacred music and worship liturgy. Every Sunday Stigall would share his knowledge with his church’s congregation. Stigall also authored and reviewed articles for, and was on the editorial board of, Reformed Liturgy and Music, the official journal of the Presbyterian Church.
Arts at Queens Mural
Visual, Performing, & Literary Former Faculty & Artists Profiles
Preferred Name – Cynthia Tyson Last City/State Resided – Charlotte, NC
Titles(s) and Dates on Faculty at Queens
English Department Faculty – (1969)
Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs – (1979 – 1985)
Education & Training
University of Leeds- BA (1958), MA (1959), PhD
President of Mary Baldwin College - (1985 - 2003)
Robert Haywood Morrison Foundation President - (2003 - 2024)
Other Queens and Professional Experiences
Cynthia H. Tyson was an honorary degree recipient of the Doctorate of Humane Letters at both Queens University of Charlotte and Mary Baldwin University. She also served as President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and had an education wing named after her by the American Shakespeare Association. Many of her other honors include two scholarshipsupported study periods at Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management, being one of twelve professors in the US chosen to spend time in Japan to advise the Japanese government on matters of higher education and receiving the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award from Queens University of Charlotte in 2013. In 2009, she returned to Queens and joined the Board of Trustees, serving two consecutive terms. In 2017, she was named a Trustee Emerita and served from 2018 to 2022.
Personal Reflection
“During her time on our Board of Trustees, Cynthia serves as an esteemed advisor who provided thoughtful and valuable guidance to us during some of our most challenging times. We cannot express how thankful we are for her dedicated service to our university. It was clear the Queens held a special place in Cynthia’s heart, and her shining legacy will never fade on campus.” - Queens University President Dan Lugo
More about Cynthia Tyson: A Legacy of Learning: Queens University of Charlotte Mourns the Loss of Trustee Emerita Cynthia H. Tyson, Ph.D.
With the support of donors, the artistic vision of current faculty, and thorough search throughout our archives, a conversation and idea that began in 2018 has culminated in this tribute. We are grateful for the support of donors and the tireless and creative contributions of current faculty and staff that brought this to life – and the legacies of our former faculty! We extend special thanks to Siu Challons Lipton, Executive Director of the Art, Design and Music Department, who was an integral part of launching this project and Professor Mike Wirth, who quite literally designed and created every aspect from construction to painting to curation of photos that you see as you view the Mural. Professor George Shealy served as the original inspiration and whose legacy is honored and we are grateful for the loan of one of his spectacular paintings by his friend and colleague, Dr. Christine Allegretti.
Our donors, Mary Wain Ingram Ellison ’68, Denise Cross Dickens ’70, and Betsy Gandee Whittington ’73, credit faculty and their education as influencing in their artistic journeys beyond Queens. Their support allowed us to imagine a special tribute to be placed in the new Sarah Gambrell Center for Arts and Civic Engagement which evolved as a complete renovation and expansion of our former E. H. Little Fine Arts Center, a state-of-the-art center and home to galleries, studios, a recital hall, 1000 seat theater, faculty offices and classes. On the lower level now appears a prominently displayed, three-dimensional, 24’ X 6.5’ installation showcasing experiences in the arts at Queens. Highlights span a time period of almost a century.