Erwin and Barbara Mautner Endowed Chair supports the School of Education and Human Development’s multifaceted approach to promoting societal well-being.

When retired librarian Barbara Mautner wanted to invest her family’s savings, her estate planner, Kristen Lynch, suggested that she look to her alma mater. Mautner, who had graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1961 and spent years as a teacher and librarian, thought of her years at UM. “Education is everything to me,” Mautner says.

When Mautner met School of Education and Human Development Dean Isaac Prilleltensky and learned about his vision of promoting community well-being through every phase of the school’s curriculum, a perfect match was made. Last May, she provided the school with its first endowed chair by establishing the Erwin and Barbara Mautner Endowed Chair in Community Well-Being with a $2.36 million gift. Dean Prilleltensky is its first recipient.

“Education is everything to me.”

UM education alumna and endowed-chair donor Barbara Mautner

This first-ever chair for the school has helped to formalize and financially promote its vision and mission. The funding, which is at the dean’s discretion, has enabled him to support student scholarships, faculty needs, policy initiatives, and research related to the promotion of community well-being.

The development and establishment of a master’s degree program in Community and Social Change is an important example of how well-being is promoted with the assistance of the gift. Students in the program are now working successfully in the community, running nonprofits, serving as mentors, and assisting community-based organizations. Some have even started their own initiatives, working with marginalized communities to prevent drug addiction, poor nutrition habits among children, and other problems. All are helping in varied and exciting ways to improve and enhance society by implementing lessons learned through the program.

Casta Guillaume, a student in the master’s program who earned her bachelor’s degree in education from UM, is doing her field work at the Women’s Fund, doing assessments and strategies designed to support its mission of improving the lives of women and girls. She also works at the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews, helping that agency develop a leadership summer camp called Metrotown, which will teach youngsters about the richness of ethnically and racially diverse communities. Guillame notes that such experiences are not only personally rewarding, but invaluable: “It’s satisfying to learn skills that will serve me in the future.”