Valparaiso University Appoints Bonnie and Peter Raquet Endowed Director’s Chair for Institute for Leadership and Service

Valparaiso University has announced Thais Carter, B.A., will serve as the next Bonnie and Peter Raquet Endowed Director’s Chair for the Institute for Leadership and Service.

“Thais has already brought tremendous gifts and vision to the Institute,” said Brian T. Johnson, M.Div., assistant vice president for mission and ministry. “Her passion to deepen and broaden concepts of vocation, her strategic insight and campus outreach and her sense of welcome and care for all members of the academic and local community will continue to grow the Institute’s influence. Mapping an integrated developmental program focusing on vocation across the professions and structuring leadership at the nexus of church and society will be important for the next chapter of our common work.”

Carter joined Valparaiso University in November 2015 after more than a decade in corporate communications. She has helped to grow and launch a number of programs for the Institute for Leadership and Service, including the Pathways to Purpose speaker series, the annual Bridge/Work conference, skill-building workshops and a podcast. Carter has also served as a process consultant to the Valpo Core, the University’s program for all first-year students, bringing a greater focus on exploration of purpose.

The Institute for Leadership and Service at Valpo is dedicated to preparing students for lives of leadership and service — lives shaped by a sense of calling, equipped for thoughtful reflection, engaged in the larger world and responsive to its deepest challenges. In 2015, Valparaiso University alumni Peter ’65, ’70 M.A. and Bonnie Thalacker ’70 Raquet established the Endowed Director’s Chair for the Institute for Leadership and Service. The endowment provides a permanent source of support for the Institute’s programs and supports Forever Valpo: The Campaign for Our Future, a $250 million endowment campaign focused on raising permanent support for student scholarships, faculty development, and programs that prepare students for lives of leadership and service.

In her new role as director, Carter will be responsible for the strategic leadership, coordination and guidance of the Institute for Leadership and Service. Together with students, faculty and staff across the University, the Institute’s team will expand and enhance opportunities for experiential learning, service and vocational reflection, throughout the curriculum and in the larger community.

Previously, Carter was senior manager of global public relations and media relations at Danaher Corporation, Kavo Kerr, a Fortune 500 company, where she worked directly with the vice president of creative services and global brand management to supervise cross-platform editorial coverage for more than 14 brands.

Carter received her bachelor of arts in journalism from Columbia College Chicago.