Mount Union names arts center for university president and wife

Staff report

ALLIANCE

The University of Mount Union Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name the institution’s new performing arts center, under construction on campus, in honor of Richard and Sandra Giese.

Giese has served as president of the institution since 2005, when he and his wife returned to Mount Union and the Alliance community they had called home for 19 years.

Before returning to Mount Union, he served as president of Monmouth College in Illinois for eight years, but his first job in higher education was as a faculty member and basketball coach at Averett College in Danville, Va.

In the summer of 1978, Giese came to Mount Union as a faculty member and head men’s basketball and tennis coach.

He then served in increasingly responsible administrative positions for Mount Union, including vice president for enrollment services and vice president for advancement.

He was part of Mount Union’s administrative leadership team at a time when Mount Union experienced unprecedented growth in enrollment and endowment.

Giese earned a bachelor of arts degree from Concordia College in 1971. He has three advanced degrees including a master of divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in Exile (Seminex), a master of arts degree from Washington University and a doctoral degree from Kent State University.

He also attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Seminar for New Presidents.

Sandra Giese is a former elementary school principal in the Alliance City School system and a Mount Union graduate who also earned graduate degrees from Kent State University and the University of Akron. She has taught at both the University of Akron and Monmouth College.

In January, Giese announced that he would step down as president of the university at the end of his current contract June 30, 2015.

“As the Gieses enter their final year at Mount Union, it is only fitting that we think of a way to recognize and honor them for their exceptional service to the university,” said Randy Hunt, ’75, chairman of the board of trustees.

“Their passion for this new facility has been evident from the beginning, and they were instrumental in pushing us to move forward with the challenge of making it a reality. It is only appropriate that it be their names etched in stone on its facade, that their legacy be honored by all those who enter its doors,” he said.

Since returning to Mount Union, the Gieses have worked collectively with members of the Mount Union community to accomplish a number of goals under six strategic initiatives of Advancing Excellence — A Strategic Plan for the University of Mount Union that include developing a curriculum for the future, fostering an engaging campus community, managing strategic enrollment growth, ensuring the sustainable management of resources, enhancing the diversity of the campus community and broadening the visibility and reputation of the institution.

The Gieses are true partners in serving Mount Union. They travel extensively to host alumni events. Sandra Giese takes an active role in fundraising for the university and supporting the Mount Union community as a whole.

Mrs. Giese is an active member of numerous campus committees, including the Sustainability Management Advisory Committee and Campus Events Committee and actively works with architects and designers on new building projects.

“By all measures it has been a fantastic ride,” said Hunt. “With the Gieses at helm of Mount Union, the university has experienced incredible success.”