At BU Wheelock, our donors play a vital role in strengthening our mission to improve education and expand opportunity for all learners. In these profiles, generous supporters share why they give—whether inspired by a meaningful mentor, a passion for equity, or a desire to fuel innovation in teaching and learning. Their stories reflect a deep commitment to students, educators, and communities, and we are profoundly grateful for their partnership.
Debbie Lane: Standing Up for Children
After growing up in a small town in Michigan, Debbie Lane (’78) was ready for a change of scenery. At 18, she moved to Boston to enroll in BU Wheelock (then Wheelock College) and study early childhood education.
“It was my first time living in a big city, so I was wide-eyed,” says Lane, who remembers the excitement of navigating Boston’s public transportation system, cheering on the Red Sox at Fenway Park, and splitting a cake from the Ice Cream Factory with her dorm-room friends.
But it was her program in BU Wheelock that left the biggest impression on her. Lane loved the small classes, attentive faculty members, and practicums with young children. “I found joy in watching the magic that surrounds children,” she says.
The Early Childhood Education and Teaching program also brought her attention to issues of access and equity in education. “My time at Wheelock opened my eyes to many of the injustices in our country,” she says. “I believe education is important and, unfortunately, the public school system is far from equal in the types of education they can provide for children.”
To help address those issues and support next-generation educators, Lane made a generous gift in March 2025 to establish the Alchemy Graduate Scholarship Fund at BU Wheelock. The fund will provide scholarships to BU Wheelock students, especially those who are first in their family to go to college.
“I hope that the students who receive the scholarships over the years will be able to help improve education for all children,” says Lane. “It takes a brave person to take a stand for children.”
By Rachel Farrell
Ted Ladd: Why We Give
I have always been inspired by BU Wheelock’s mission, particularly its leadership in early childhood education and its commitment to having a positive societal impact.
I joined the Wheelock College board of trustees in the mid-1970s, and in the subsequent decades served as chair of the board and other senior governance positions.
About a decade ago, I and others began to worry that smaller, private, tuition-dependent colleges such as Wheelock were facing major financial head winds. This ultimately led to the Wheelock–Boston University merger. Those of us on the board were so grateful to Dean David Chard for the courage, wisdom, dedication, and diplomacy he displayed during this time. I told him that while he has had many triumphs in life, his execution of the Wheelock–Boston University merger may have been his finest hour.
In the course of my work with BU Wheelock I have tried to be philanthropic, donating to
capital campaigns and special causes, and making a bequest gift. Most recently, I created a charitable gift annuity for the Lucy Wheelock Fellowship Fund as a way to recognize David as he steps down as dean.
Established to help preserve the legacy of Lucy Wheelock as a leader in early childhood education and development, this fund supports graduate students studying in BU Wheelock’s early childhood programs. I am pleased to join others in the initiative to build the Lucy Wheelock Fellowship Fund.
I am so proud of what we have collectively done. Now under the Boston University umbrella and with good leadership and philanthropy, BU Wheelock can pursue its mission in perpetuity.
By Ted Ladd
Julia Casady: Sustainable Growth
“Education is a passion of mine,” Julia Casady says. A longtime teacher, Casady is cofounder, with her husband, Mark, of the One Step Forward Education Foundation, which focuses its philanthropy on education initiatives.
With their giving, she says, “we’re trying to level the playing field.” To that end, the foundation has endowed a scholarship for aspiring educators at BU Wheelock.
“What’s really important for our foundation is finding things that are sustainable,” says Casady.
“If you put your time and energy into it, it needs to grow. It needs to mature. And that’s what Wheelock does.”
Casady grew up in a small farming community in southern Indiana; she met her husband at 15, when he joined their high school’s French club shortly after moving to town. They married in college and raised four children. Their daughter Maggie Casady (’12,’14) studied at BU Wheelock as both an undergrad and a graduate student.
“She was able to find a fabulous job right off the mark. And what we kept seeing as she interviewed was, people knew what they were getting from Wheelock. They have a great product,” says Casady.
“What I find really exciting, and what our foundation loves, is being entrepreneurial. We like to see a need and to fill it, to create something new,” she adds. So, she’s excited to see BU Wheelock expanding its offerings in education policy, in hopes of improving education systems in the US and around the world—which is the objective of all of Casady’s philanthropy.
“A lot of people look at that and go, ‘Oh, it’s overwhelming!’” Casady says. “Well, you know, you start with a place like Wheelock, and you build on that.”
By Louise Corrigan Kennedy
Jane & Mark Roberts: A Shared Commitment
It was at the Cabot Elementary School in Newton, Mass., where Jane (’73) began her career as a student teacher finishing her degree from Wheelock College, and Mark (’76, Questrom’85), fresh out of Brown University, got his first job. The two quickly became a couple.
“I always wanted to be an elementary school teacher,” says Jane, who was born in Boston.
6/16/22 — Bigfork, Montana BU Alumni Jane (Wheelock’73) and Mark (Wheelock’76, Questrom’85) Roberts created the Roberts Family Endowed Scholarship Fund. They were photographed in Bigfork, Montana on June 16, 2022. Photo by Rebecca Stumpf for Boston University Photography
For Mark, teaching was a revelation, setting him on a career path he hadn’t envisioned. He decided to go to Wheelock for a graduate degree in education, then later pursued an MBA at BU and a career in corporate banking. But his passion for education never waned.
“I was a teacher who was playing banker in a three-piece suit,” says Mark. So he returned to the classroom. He joined the Questrom School of Business faculty after leaving Fleet Bank in 2003. He retired from Questrom in 2017.
The couple joined the board of trustees at Wheelock, which hadn’t yet merged with BU, in 2011, after Jane had retired. There, they saw the growing need for financial aid, so they established the Roberts Family Endowed Scholarship Fund, supporting Boston residents seeking a career in education. BU’s Century Challenge will match the fund’s spendable income for 100 years. Because of the match, the Robertses decided to increase their commitment.
“We literally looked at each other and said, this is what we need to be doing,” Jane says.
By Michael McDonald
Elizabeth Fung: Honoring Mentors, Past and Future
Wheelock College alum, Elizabeth Fung (Wheelock’61) in Hingham, MA on June 25, 2021.Fung has endowed the S. Wilcox Harvey Faculty Mentorship Fund that will support training resources, workshops, conferences, and other professional development related to mentoring students. Photo by Chris McIntosh for Boston University Photography
Born in mainland China, Elizabeth Fung (’61) grew up in Taiwan and came to Wheelock College at 16. “I was not fluent in English,” she says, “but I did know some because my parents were in diplomatic service.” Still, she struggled in literature classes—particularly with Shakespeare.
So Professor S. Wilcox Harvey, who was teaching English at Wheelock, started tutoring her every Saturday morning. “He did it for my whole freshman year,” marvels Fung. “He was a very understanding and supportive person.”
Fung has endowed the S. Wilcox Harvey Faculty Mentorship Fund to encourage BU Wheelock faculty to follow Harvey’s example. The fund will support training resources, workshops, conferences, and other professional development related to mentoring students.
Fung chose to honor her professor, she says, “because Dr. Harvey was so consistent and dependable, and he made me feel very hopeful that things would work out.” She credits that early support for her successful career in social work and adds, “Now that I have retired, I can understand more the kindness he showed by taking time every Saturday morning.”
“That sounds so much like him. He was one of those people who always found time for you,” says the professor’s great-nephew, Steve Harvey. “When I heard about the gift, I was just thrilled, because he’s one of the most special people in my life.”
Thanks to Fung, he’ll be remembered as a special person at BU Wheelock, too.
After growing up in a small town in Michigan, Debbie Lane (’78) was ready for a change of scenery. At 18, she moved to Boston to enroll in BU Wheelock (then Wheelock College) and study early childhood education.
I have always been inspired by BU Wheelock’s mission, particularly its leadership in early childhood education and its commitment to having a positive societal impact.
“Education is a passion of mine,” Julia Casady says. A longtime teacher, Casady is cofounder, with her husband, Mark, of the One Step Forward Education Foundation, which focuses its philanthropy on education initiatives.
