Jacqueline Grennan Wexler (1926–2012) was President of Webster College (now Webster University) from 1965–1969. She presided over the college's groundbreaking transfer to a lay board in 1967. After leaving Webster in 1969, she went on to serve as president of Hunter College and later the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
mainly 1965 to 1969
three boxes
Jacqueline Grennan Wexler
Jacqueline Grennan Wexler resigned her position at Webster College in 1969 and became president of Hunter College in New York in 1970. A finding aid containing a detailed biographical sketch and information about her years at Hunter College is available.
Most items in the Jacqueline Grennan Wexler collection were created between 1965 and 1969 when she served as president of Webster College (now Webster University). The collection includes published materials by and about her as well as unpublished works such as addresses she gave at conferences, convocations, and commencement ceremonies. Correspondence is also part of the collection, Much of the content concerns the decision to transfer ownership of the college from the founding religious order, the Sisters of Loretto, to an independent lay board in 1967. The collection represents Wexler's professional life as a leader in higher education and does not include family correspondence, documents, and memorabilia.
Please consult the box and folder list.
The collection is open for research use by appointment only.
The Jacqueline Grennan Wexler collection is the physical property of Webster University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
Materials entirely in English.
Materials were accumulated during Wexler's years on campus.
Jacqueline Grennan Wexler later became president of Hunter College in New York.
1963: Appointed to the President's Advisory Panel on Research and Development in Education
1964: Globe-Democrat Woman of Achievement
1965: Named to the Steering Committee of Project Head-Start, a program of the Office of Economic Opportunity
1965: Member of the Education Task Force for the Peace Corps
1965: "Newsmaker" award recipient of the St. Louis Chapter of Theta Sigma Phi, national honorary society for women in journalism
1966: Selected for the Academy of Missouri Squires
1967: Named Woman of Accomplishment, Harper's Bazaar
1967: Named to the President's Task Force on Urban Educational Opportunities
1968: First recipient of the New York University School of Education Annual Award for Creative Leadership in Education
1968: Elizabeth Cutter Morrow Award from the YWCA
1978: First woman elected to the board of directors of United Technologies Corporation
1979: National Award of Distinction from the Alumni Association, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
1980: First woman at the University of Pennsylvania to be named a Life Trustee
1982: First woman president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews
1985: Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award, Webster University
1988: Abram L. Sachar (BDAE) Silver Medallion of the National Women's Committee of Brandeis University
1989: Albert Einstein Award, St. Louis chapter of the American Society for the Technion
1990: International Executive of the Year Award, J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University
1966: Doctor of Humane Letters, Carnegie Institute of Technology
1967: Doctor of Humane Letters, Colorado College
1967: Doctor of Laws, Skidmore College
1967: Doctor of Humanities, University of Michigan
1968: Doctor of Humane Letters, Brandeis University
1968: Doctor of Laws, Franklin and Marshall College
1970: Doctor of Science, Central Michigan University
1970: Doctor of Laws, Temple University
1971: Doctor of Humane Letters, Syracuse University
1975: Doctor of Laws, Smith College
1979: Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Pennsylvania
1990: Doctor of Divinity, Lafayette College
1991: Doctor of Humane Letters, University of South Florida
2007: Doctor of Laws, Webster University
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Webster College was the first Catholic college ever to transfer ownership from a Catholic order to a lay board. Below are some of the key documents related to this change.
At the same time Webster College was transitioning to a secular institution, Jacqueline decided to request that she be released from her vows. Below are her requests:
Jacqueline shared the news of her resignation and her upcoming wedding after almost four years as Webster College president:
Sister J: Secret weapon. (1964, October 23). Life Magazine, vol. 57, no. 17, pp. 53–61.
Spotlight alumna. (1965, July-August). Notre Dame Alumnus, vol. 43, no. 3, p. 64.
St. Joan of Webster Groves. (1963, June 21). Time, vol. 81, no. 25, pp. 59–60.
Webster College's Sister Jacqueline pioneering new methods of teaching. (1963, August 8). St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Woo, William F. (1965, April 11). Sister J.—Always a questioning mind. St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Callahan, Daniel. (1967, April 23). Sister Jacqueline becomes Miss Grennan and dramatizes: a crisis in Catholic education. New York Times Magazine, pp. 34–35, 62, 67–68, 72–74.
Dames, Joan F. (1967, January 20). Sister Jacqueline Grennan joins innovators. Chicago Daily News, section 2, p. 13.
Doyle, Patricia Jansen. (1967, July 15). The real world of Jacqueline Grennan. Saturday Review, pp. 58–59, 70–72.
Kaiser, Robert Blair. (1967, May 30). Jacqueline Grennan: Ex-nun. Look, vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 106–110.
Kaiser, Robert Blair. (1967, April). The nuns that quit. Ladies' Home Journal, vol. 84, no. 4, pp. 82–83, 136–140.
Koury, Phil A. (1967, February 12). Sister Jacqueline turns 'Miss' for education. The Kansas City Star, pp. 1–2G.
Negri, Gloria. (1967, January 15). The college and the nun who vaulted the cloister wall. The Boston Globe, pp. 1, 70.
Sanford, Robert K. (1967, January 15). Miss Grennan tells of decision to leave her religious order. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. 1A, 7A.
Start, Clarissa. (1968, June 23). New world of Jacqueline Grennan. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. 1G.
Woo, William F. (1969, March-April). The secularization of Webster College. Change, pp. 42–46.
Worley, Ann. (1969, February 20). Ex-nun opts for freedom. Dallas Times Herald.
Brown, Dennis. (1979, May 20). Jacqueline Wexler--Still seeking challenges. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, pp. 1–2.
The lady is not for drowning. (1970, January 19). Time, vol. 95, no. 3, p. 55.
Secrest, Meryle. (1970, February 1). Jacqueline Grennan Wexler, 'Joan of Arc of Education'. St. Paul Sunday Pioneer Press, p. 5.
Secrest, Meryle. (1970, January 10-11). Jacqueline Wexler's latest challenge. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Wood, Sue Ann. (1970, May 2-3). Jacqueline Wexler's newest headache. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Austin, Charles. (1982, July 30). Brotherhood group's new head. New York Times, p. B1.
O'Brien, Edward W. (1982, October 9-10). Leadership with common sense: Jacqueline Wexler now heads conference of Christians and Jews. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, p. D1.
Kuman, Kavita. (2012, January 26). Jacqueline G. Wexler led Webster University's break from Catholic Church. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A17.
Jacqueline Grennan Wexler. (2012, January 19). Webster-Kirkwood Times.
Lelis, Ludmilla. (2012, January 21). Jacqueline Grennan Wexler: Former nun was activist, president of 2 colleges. Orlando Sentinel.
Vitello, Paul. (2012, January 25). Jacqueline G. Wexler, 85, ex-nun who took on church. The New York Times, Section B, p. 18.
