For more than three decades, Katherine A. Schwab, PhD, has been a guiding light at Fairfield University, in the College of Arts and Science’s Art History Department, the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, and beyond. Now, as she concludes her 36-year tenure as a professor, she’s exploring new avenues to foster ongoing support for future generations, while sustaining the Fairfield legacy she helped create.

Dr. Schwab’s contributions to Greek art and culture have earned her international acclaim. She has been the recipient of many distinguished awards, including three separate fellowships from the Museum of Metropolitan Art, the Hellene of the Year Award, the Paideia Award for the state of Connecticut, and the Robert E. Wall Award at Fairfield.

In 2003, Dr. Schwab received permission from Greece’s Ministry of Culture to study the Parthenon’s east and north metopes. She was later asked to provide grayscale scans of her metope drawings for the Parthenon Gallery’s permanent installation in Athens’ new Acropolis Museum, where the scans are permanently displayed. She is the only American whose drawings appear in this installation.

One of Dr. Schwab’s most notable accomplishments is the Historic Plaster Cast Collection, in the Fairfield University Art Museum. As one of the largest cast collections of Parthenon sculpture casts in the tri-state area, it is widely studied by students across disciplines. She began this collection in 1991 and it now includes 100 rare and historic casts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Art Gallery, as well as gifts from the Acropolis Museum, Slater Museum, and other individuals. The collection’s range and depth of casts representing Parthenon sculpture is unique, and many have been loaned to other exhibits over the years.

“Courses I teach focus on people and their cultural achievements from a long time ago, usually 2,500 years ago,” said Dr. Schwab. “How to make that relevant to students in my class is an exciting challenge, and one that offers shared questions over time and space.”

Dr. Schwab and her students actively link the past to the present as they research ways to restore the casts to their former glory. As Dr. Schwab explained, “The casts became something of a passion for me as I know how important they are. I want others to understand this isn’t something that should be dismissed but, in fact, should be seen as an incredibly important educational resource.”

The Katherine A. Schwab Historic Plaster Cast Collection Endowment Fund was established in 2023 with a $100,000 gift from Dr. Schwab to ensure the collection’s preservation and care, while providing opportunities for students to work with the cast collection through research, travel, and internships.

As Dr. Schwab and her husband Ronald Davidson, PhD, professor of religious studies, prepare to retire, their legacy of promoting intellectual curiosity and cultural appreciation continues.

Dr. Schwab hopes to encourage others to establish endowments and notes that donating does not necessarily mean, “writing a check for the full amount today. There is a way to do this if you carefully plan it out with colleagues in Advancement and stretch it over multiple years. People don’t realize you can stretch as much as you can while still giving on an annual basis.” Dr. Schwab feels her donations can be a meaningful way to honor not only her own work, but also the legacy of students and colleagues who paved the way with their work on the casts.

In honor of Dr. Schwab and her contributions to Fairfield University, the hallway of the museum housing the casts will be named the “Katherine A. Schwab Historic Plaster Cast Hall.”

Fairfield has committed to raising an additional $200,000 towards the fund to maximize Dr. Schwab’s gift and guarantee its enduring impact on Fairfield students and the institution.

For more information about the Historic Plaster Cast Collection, including how to support the Katherine A. Schwab Historic Plaster Cast Collection Endowment Fund, please contact Marie-Laure Kugel, Director of Development for Fairfield Arts & Minds, at mkugel@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4000 ext. 3267.