Giving Back — To the Future - John Carroll University

Summer 2009
Magis
Doing more to transform lives, in the Jesuit Catholic tradition
Giving Back —
To the Future
INSIDE:
Magis Legacy Society
welcomes 17 new members
Magis group taps alumni
expertise
Faculty Spotlight
Magis (pronounced “màh-jis”) is a
Jesuit phrase that means “the more.” It
is taken from Ad majorem Dei gloriam,
a Latin phrase meaning “for the greater
glory of God.” Magis refers to the
philosophy of doing more, for Christ,
and therefore for others.
Visit our website to learn more:
www.jcu.edu/plannedgiving
It is not unusual for generous donors to make a planned gift to an institution,
especially to a favorite university. What is really exceptional about Don and Mary Jo
Dailey’s planned gift to John Carroll is that neither one ever attended the university.
Both are natives of Wickliffe, Ohio, east of Cleveland, and new members of the Magis
Legacy Society. Don graduated from the University of Dayton, which he attended on
a football scholarship, and Mary Jo took classes at Cleveland State University before
becoming a mother early in their marriage. “I have been very blessed,” Mary Jo says. “I
have been able to raise my children, spend time with my grandchildren, and volunteer
in the community. I’m very active in the
Christ Child Society of Cleveland.”
Don plans to retire soon, at 57, as
managing partner of the Cleveland office
of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) LLP.
Don also is a member of John Carroll’s
Magis Advisory Group. “We’ve both been
blessed in our lives,” he adds, “starting with
terrific education, at the high school and
college levels. We both respect the value of
a quality education. And while I’m not a
graduate of John Carroll, through my years
at PWC, I’ve spent a great deal of time at the university.”
Newest members of the Magis Legacy
Society, Mary Jo and Don Dailey,
are serious walkers...70- to 80-mileweeklong-trips-through
the Italian
countryside serious. We caught up
with them recently in the Cleveland
MetroParks near their home.
“I wanted to give back to
Carroll in appreciation for
the wonderful students
they’ve produced, and to be
part of the process . . .”
Don has recruited many John Carroll graduates for the firm over more than 20 years,
during which time, he says, “I couldn’t help but develop a great admiration for the
university. Getting to know the faculty and students confirmed for me that this was
an institution that has a wonderful accounting program and is continuing to educate
outstanding candidates for the workplace.”
—continued on page 3

Magis Legacy Society welcomes 17 new members
New Magis Legacy Society
members John Smith ’62,
Martin Kinsella ’76, ’82G,
and Mary Jo and Don Dailey
receive their Magis medallions
from John Carroll President
Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.
Photos by Rob Wetzler
John Carroll welcomed more than 60 Magis Legacy Society
guests back to campus in May for its annual Magis Liturgy
and Awards Brunch. The University holds the event to
welcome new Magis members and to thank all members
for their generosity in making provisions for John Carroll
University in their estates.
John Carroll University President Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.,
presented Magis Legacy Society medallions to four (of 17)
new members who attended the gathering, including:
Mary Jo and Don Dailey
Martin W. Kinsella ’76, ’82G
John D. Smith ’62 (gift in the name of John D. and
Fran Smith)
Muldoon Atrium provided a new venue for this year’s brunch.
Mark McCarthy, Ph.D., vice president for Student Affairs,
served as keynote and spoke about “The John Carroll
Student of 2009,” and three current students fielded
questions from the audience about life on campus.
John Carroll student panel Matt Wooters ’09, Ariel Johnson ’11, and Maura
Jochum ’11.

Magis Advisory Group taps alumni expertise
In January, nearly 50 Magis Advisory
Group members gathered for an
inaugural luncheon at the Union Club
in downtown Cleveland. Rev. Robert L.
Niehoff, S.J., John Carroll University
president, was guest speaker and
provided a University update. Robert
A. Valente ’69 is the Magis Advisory
Group’s first chair.
members are John Carroll alumni.
Magis Advisory Group members
provide experienced guidance to
University Advancement staff, and will
play an integral part in upcoming JCU
campaigns and serve as leaders to help
advance John Carroll’s planned-giving
efforts, visibility, and reputation with
clients and in the community-at-large.
The Magis Advisory Group was
created last fall to invite accounting,
legal, financial, insurance, real estate
and other professionals to advocate
for John Carroll University. Many
Giving Back — To the Future
—continued from page 1
Each year, just in the Cleveland office,
PWC has hired three to five JCU
graduates. “They’re very high-caliber
graduates -- good kids who have a
realistic view of the world,” Don says.
“I don’t have Don’s direct experience
with the John Carroll students, but
after meeting some of them at PWC
functions over the years, I can tell
that they are so capable -- such wellgrounded,
good kids,” Mary Jo says.
“Some of that reflects the Jesuit
traditions,” Don adds. “Both the Jesuits
and the Marianists (Don’s alma mater,
the University of Dayton, is a Marianist
school) have leadership and service as
integral parts of their education. So
going to John Carroll is more than just
getting a quality education, it really
creates leaders and people who are
cognizant of our responsibility to give
back and to serve.”
Don has also taught at JCU on a
part-time basis for the past few years.
“I wanted to give back to Carroll
The next Magis Advisory Group
luncheon will be on Thursday,
September 17, 2009, at the Union
Club.
in appreciation for the wonderful
students they’ve produced, and to be
part of the process,” he says.
When the Daileys decided to update
their estate plans last fall, JCU was one
of three colleges they designated as
beneficiaries. The other two were the
University of Dayton, and Lakeland
Community College, in Kirtland, Ohio,
where Don serves on several boards
and advisory committees.
Planning an estate gift to John
Carroll is easy to do, the Daileys note.
“Too often, people think it’s very
sophisticated and you have to have
complicated wills and estate plans to
do it,” Don says. “The vehicle we used
to make our gift commitment was as
easy as adding certain language to our
will that designates a portion of our
remaining estate to John Carroll. We
simply met with our estate attorney
and worked through some very
brief language. We then provided
documentation to the university, and it
was done.”
John Carroll University President Robert L. Niehoff,
S.J. (left center), Patrick J. Ertle, Senior Director
— Major & Planned Gifts, then Board Chair, Allyn
R. Adams, ’64 and MAG inaugural chair, Robert A
Valente, ’69.
Mary Jo says their gift, in part, “reflects
on the wonderful job John Carroll
does educating these kids. And it’s gifts
like this that help them continue to
do their job. I can’t stress how easy it
was. Quite honestly, it’s kind of a scary
thought, because you’re planning for
after you’re gone, but it’s something
you have to be realistic about. We don’t
have an enormous estate that worried
us from a tax standpoint. We just
wanted to do the little bit we could for
the next generation.”
Don adds: “We all have decisions to
make about what happens to our
estates, and should not leave it to
chance. This is a good way to make an
investment in the future. You won’t be
around to see all it will accomplish, but
knowing the quality and the integrity
of John Carroll, you can certainly put
a lot of trust in the fact that they’ll
steward the gift appropriately, and
students down the road will benefit as
result. What a nice legacy to leave.”

Faculty Spotlight
Leo J. Schneider, Ph.D.
Musings of a
Mathematical Mind
T
hose who know Leo Joseph Schneider, Ph.D., may
be surprised to learn that this garrulous professor of
mathematics once suffered from glossophobia -- a fear of
public speaking.
“When I graduated from Xavier in 1960, I knew the
one thing I didn’t want to do was teach; I hated my speech
course! Then I had the opportunity to get a master’s degree
at Xavier, which included a teaching assistantship. After a
week or two, getting up in front of people and talking wasn’t
so bad.”
He also served two years in the U.S. Army teaching
math to civilian employees at an armory in Springfield,
Massachusetts.
Now that he has logged nearly 50 years at John Carroll
University, including eight as department chair, Prof.
Schneider looks back at those early days in speech class and
laughs.
“When I started here in 1963, John Carroll was an allmale
school, so I fit right in,” he says, adding that Xavier and
his high school were all-male then, too. “The students have
changed a lot. When we admitted girls, I wasn’t sure how it
would work out. But now, having raised two daughters, I am
very comfortable with the young ladies here.”
Of all the classes he’s taught, he says Number Theory
is his favorite. “It’s always popular with students because
people can easily understand number theory problems. I
never took a course in it, but I’m good at it! And I just love
talking about it.”
The late Rev. Raymond Allen, S.J., inspired him to
teach. Fr. Allen hired Prof. Schneider and preceded him as
math chair at Carroll, and chaired the math department at
Xavier when Schneider was an undergrad there.
He also credits Fr. Allen for his marriage. “My wife, Sue,
was a grad assistant in the department, and I think Fr. Allen
engineered our meeting.”
In addition to his full-time faculty position, he has
served since 2002 as secretary/treasurer of Pi Mu Epsilon,
the national mathematics honor society, which includes a
fair bit of public speaking.
“I’ve always felt I should give back and have another, as I
call it, unpaid full-time job – but only one at a time,” he says.
Leo Schneider, Ph.D.
46-year Carroll veteran
Photo by Dan Milner
From 1974-88, Prof. Schneider volunteered with the
Ohio Section of the American High School Math
Exam, sponsored by the Mathematical Association
of America (MAA).
From 1988-94, he chaired the committee that writes
the American High School Math Exam.
From 1994-2003, he served the Ohio Section MAA
as president, on its program committee, and represented
it to the national MAA.
He is a former judge and current author for the
American Regions Math League contest and, since 2001,
has served as sole author of an annual contest for the New
York State Mathematics League, a group of high school
mathematics teams.
Professional accolades include the 2004 Ohio
Distinguished Teaching Award from the MAA, and Grauel
Faculty Fellowships from John Carroll in 1998 and 2009.
When he’s not creating math problems, Prof. Schneider
enjoys bicycling, cross-country skiing, playing bridge, and
travel. He and his family usually alternate summer vacations
between national parks out West and the Eastern Shore.
Magis Summer 2009
For more information on Planned Giving
opportunities at John Carroll University,
please contact us.
Patrick J. Ertle
Senior Director –
Major & Planned Gifts
pertle@jcu.edu
216.397.1977
Peter Bernardo
Director of
Planned Giving
pbernardo@jcu.edu
216.397.4217
© 2009. All rights reserved. John Carroll University
Editor: Marcia Aghajanian
Design: Jennifer Vokoun