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¶ºÄÌÊÓƵ is pleased to announce it has received a $100,000 gift from the Helen Rose Dawson Charitable Trust. This gift reflects the spirit of service to and love for Villa Julie College and Stevenson that guided Rose Dawson, D. Ed., during her 34-year career as the institution’s Academic Dean and Vice President from 1965 to 1999. Rose passed away in July 2022.

Born in 1927, Rose was one of five girls born to Lawrence Dawson and Helen (Jenkins) Dawson and was raised at her family’s farm in Rockville, Maryland. After graduating high school in 1945, Rose joined the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and went on to serve as an educator at schools throughout Maryland as well as Washington, D.C. and Staten Island, New York. Rose earned her master’s degree from Fordham University and her Doctorate in Education from Nova University.

In 1965, Rose was asked to serve as the Academic Dean of Villa Julie College, where she worked alongside longtime President Carolyn Manuszak to turn the two-year junior college into a thriving four-year institution. During her time, Rose helped guide the development of the curriculum, imbuing it with a strong career focus grounded in the liberal arts and sciences; instilled a shared commitment to teaching excellence; and promoted a culture of personalized support for students, something that she experienced in her youth that inspired her lifelong values.

¶ºÄÌÊÓƵ serves more than 2,700 traditional undergraduates on its campus in Owings Mills, Maryland, as well as graduate and professional students through ¶ºÄÌÊÓƵ Online and doctoral students in its Doctor of Psychology program. Stevenson is driven by an educational mission to provide exceptional experiences in and out of the classroom, create career connections that foster students’ professional success after college, and offer a supportive community in which all students can grow intellectually, socially, and professionally.