History Connections

Alumni Profiles

Mary Moran graduated from Lewis University in 2015 with a History major with a track in Public History and a minor in Eastern European Languages: Russian. She also served as the President of Lewis’ chapter of Phi Alpha Theta.Mary holds a full-time position at The Salvation Army Central Territory Headquarters in their Legal Department overseeing all incoming records. She says, “This is an incredible opportunity to work for a great organization that works all over the world to help with natural disasters, such as the earthquake in Nepal, as well as other social services and programs. The research and organizational skills that I learned from all of my professors at Lewis I know will become my best tools at this new job as I research information for new estates and organize the files of the office.”

 
Richard Joyce graduated from Lewis in 1973 and received an M.A. in History from Illinois State University in 1980. He taught at Wilmington High School from 1974 until 2008 when he retired.  He also served as an adjunct faculty member in the History Department at the University of St. Francis in the 1990s. Richard served on the Grundy County board since 1984 and was vice chairman from 2006 to 2010. He has presented numerous papers and lectures regarding the history of the former coal mining towns (and the activities of their inhabitants) of northern Illinois. Joyce reminisced on his time at Lewis in the History Department, saying “I thoroughly enjoyed my years at Lewis (1969-1973). I was well prepared for graduate school and for my future career by professors in the History Department such as Joe McFadden, Vince Howard, and John Lamb.”