Donation to be used for Texas studies
A $1.5 million dollar donation from a TCU alumnus for the first endowed chair in Texas history will be an asset to the first Center for Texas Studies.
By Sarah McNamara
Staff Reporter

A nationwide search for the inaugural holder of a chair in Texas history has been launched and search committee officials say they expect to identify the recipient by the end of February.

Fort Worth native and businesswoman Mary Ralph Lowe recently established the endowed chair with a $1.5 million donation in honor of her parents, Erma and Ralph Lowe.

“My parents thought generously and focused on how to make the place they lived and loved better for others,” Lowe said. “TCU was a part of that dream. It is a part of the great Republic of Texas which deserves to be studied for its heritage, diversity and grit.”

Mary Volcansek, dean of the Add Ran College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said Lowe’s gift will be distinctive for TCU because the endowed chair will be the first of its kind at any Texas college or university.

“There is nothing that makes (Add Ran) different from other liberal arts schools,” Volcansek said. “This is a signature program, a way of standing out.”

Gene Smith, a history professor and member of the Lowe Chair Search Committee, said the department is looking for a distinguished scholar in Texas history who has attained a high stature in publication and someone willing to be a leader for the university and community.

“It’s up to us to find the best person we can to bring in here,” Smith said.

In conjunction with creating the first chair in Texas history, the history department is also in the process of developing the first Center for Texas Studies, a program to bring the history of Texas and Fort Worth to the community, Smith said.

Volcansek said whoever fills the position for the Lowe Chair will be an integral part to the success of the Center for Texas Studies as a professor and leader.

“I want the professor that receives this chair to have great passion — approaching the subject with and beguiling stories emblazing every heart,” Lowe said.

Smith said the development of the program hasn’t been a concerted effort by the history department, “but a handful of individuals that want to make a mark.”

“History is something people have an intrinsic fascination with,” Smith said. “Here was a good opportunity to bring programming and service a community that perhaps TCU has overlooked.”

Smith said the goal of the center is to provide a public history program that teaches people to be history-minded.

He said the possibilities of the program are endless, but initial plans include a facility to house a museum and exhibits, along with archives and a library for acquiring collections.

“TCU has been such an integral part of Fort Worth as an institution that has given in many different areas, and Fort Worth is an incredible city with a rich history and past and has given to TCU,” Smith said. “It’s time to bring the two together so they can share that historical legacy.”

Volcansek said $10 million is needed to fully fund the Center for Texas Studies and recognizes it is not an optimal time for fund raising because of the economy but said she continues to look to foundations and individuals that might be interested in investing.

She said initial planning for the center began just last May and an enormous amount of progress has been made.

“Everything is dreams and visions until we put the money together,” Volcansek said. “I remain eternally optimistic that will happen soon.”

Sarah McNamara