Fostering Civic Engagement

Established in 2022, the David and Carolyn Brodsky Chair in U.S. Constitutional Democracy and Culture was created to enhance the undergraduate and graduate student experience by focusing on the democratic forces that have inspired, built and sustained America throughout its history.

David Brodsky ’21 (Hon.), the founder and former chairman and CEO of Rhode Island-based Superior Healthcare Group, and his late wife Carolyn devoted decades to supporting philanthropic causes across the U.S., with a focus on higher education, preservation, the arts and health care.

After a rigorous search, Dr. Mary Anderson was named the inaugural Brodsky Chair. She joined the campus community for the fall 2024 semester after moving to Rhode Island with her husband and three children to begin her new role.

“The job description was such a great fit for what Salve was looking for and the work that I do,” Anderson said. “In bestowing this gift to the University, the Brodsky family has ensured that the Salve community will continue to engage in teaching and research that is foundational to our nation’s most cherished ideals for years to come.”

Anderson earned her doctorate at Florida State University with a dissertation on building a sense of community and how that fosters political action. She then embarked on a 15-year career teaching political science at the University of Tampa (UT), where she held numerous positions and was chair of the political science department twice. Anderson also co-founded and co-directed UT’s Democracy Coalition and served as the inaugural chair for a faculty senate committee on community and civic engagement.

“Essentially, I’ve been working on civic engagement and trying to understand how communities can help foster civic engagement my entire career,” Anderson said. “There are a variety of different ways you can use community to help mobilize and motivate people to participate in the civic engagement process.”

Anderson’s research has been published in leading political science journals, and she is the author or co-author of four books. In addition, Anderson and a team of undergraduate research students gathered approximately 1,700 speeches from America’s first ladies; the eventual goal is to have a comprehensive public archive of public statements and speeches by every first lady from Johnson to Biden.

Anderson is excited to be just as engaged at Salve as she moves into her new role. She is inspired by the University’s mercy mission and its emphasis on the five Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy – particularly women.

“Almost all of my recent work is around … how we get women involved in the political process, because I think women bring a different voice to politics,” Anderson said. “And when it comes to racism, nonviolence, the Earth and immigration – anybody who studies public opinion and policy knows that these are key issues on the tops of people’s minds.”

As the Brodsky Chair, Anderson will serve as a catalyst for academic discourse, student engagement and the advancement of the ideals from which the U.S. Constitution was crafted. Her work will ensure that undergraduate students explore the opportunities and freedoms made possible in the nation’s founding, so that our future leaders will recognize the importance of communication and compromise when building governmental frameworks.