Generational Giving

In February 2025, Salve Regina University announced a $12 million gift from the Jean and David W. Wallace Foundation, focused on creating innovative experiences in business with the naming of the Jean and David W. Wallace Department of Business and Economics. It also supported the creation of the Anita and Robert R. Young Department Chair of the Jean and David W. Wallace Department of Business and Economics.

The gift is the latest of many from the Wallace family, the University’s most generous benefactor with donations of more than $24.6 million over many years. Bringing the Wallace and Young families together in the recent gift also honors the role that the Youngs, neighbors to Salve’s campus, played in establishing the special relationship between Salve and the Wallace family and encouraging their active role in the University’s evolution.

The Wallace family’s deep roots with Salve have underpinned the University’s core strategies for decades. They have supported the renovation, restoration and construction of 12 campus buildings, an annual student scholarship and faculty research, and have continued to support initiatives that help the University grow, compete and provide students with the values and skills needed to make a positive impact in the world.

Support for Salve’s Mission

The relationship between Salve and the Wallace family began in the early 1980s. David Wallace, then manager of the Robert R. Young Foundation, was introduced to Sister Therese Antone, then vice president for University advancement.

When Antone became Salve’s president and developed an ambitious plan for its future, the Wallaces provided key enabling support with a $2 million gift from the Young Foundation to support the construction of Rodgers Recreation Center. Later, after David Wallace began his tenure on the board of trustees, a gift from the Wallaces helped to fund the renovation of the former Young carriage house into a unique student residence, Wallace Hall.

“As Jean and David became familiar with our mercy mission and the plan for Salve’s future, which was based on respect for and acceptance of all, they embraced that. It was who they were,” Antone recollected.

At the celebration of her 10th anniversary as Salve’s president, Antone received a gift from the Wallaces. They restricted it to anything Antone determined would be helpful to the University and requested that it bear her name. “I was humbled,” Antone said. “When I told them my choice was support for faculty scholarship, research and teaching, they were very pleased.”

Continuing to fund innovation that shapes Salve’s future In 2019, Salve named the central common area in the O’Hare Academic Building Wallace Commons in honor of David and Jean Wallace, whose deep and consistent support touched every area of campus life. Daughters Anne Wallace Juge and Mary Wallace Strizek, co-presidents of the family’s foundation, accepted the honor on their late parents’ behalf.

“David and Jean Wallace were good, kind people who loved Salve and its mission,” Antone said. “Anne and Mary are following in their parents’ footsteps in many ways. They are also very aware of the needs of others, responsive, respectful and kind.”

Continuing the legacy of their parents’ support, they remain closely connected to Salve and its mission. Anne Wallace Juge currently serves on the board as a trustee. To meet the needs of students in a rapidly evolving global society, they again stepped in to support the 2019 strategic planning, design and launch of the Salve Compass program, a key initiative of President Kelli J. Armstrong. This signature experience spans all four years and extends to every Salve student, connecting college to a successful career and the ability to lead a meaningful and productive life.

“The value of the Wallace family’s gifts to the University cannot be overstated. We would not be where we are without them,” Armstrong said. “This latest gift will help us strengthen the business and economics department, scale up our experiential learning, support faculty research projects and provide the tools for our students to serve communities when they graduate. It positions us to create opportunities that build real-world readiness for all.”

The Wallaces designed the gift specifically to honor their parents’ love of Salve and their commitment to the University’s mission to provide students with the values and skills needed to make a positive difference in the world.

“We are grateful to recognize our parents and the Youngs together with Salve’s expanding business and economics department,” Juge said. “It is an honor to be serving on the Salve board.”

“Our father considered Robert Young a dear friend and mentor, and our families remained close throughout their lives,” Strizek noted. “We are so pleased to honor them together at Salve and know they would be proud to be part of the accomplishments of new generations of Salve students.”