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Skidmore College
Skidmore Retirees

Mary Elizabeth Correa

Mary Elizabeth Correa, associate professor emerita in the Department of Management and Business, died May 9, 2014, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 67.
 
Born October 29, 1946, in New York City, Mary was the daughter of the late Mathias F. and Louise Kennedy Correa. After graduating from Convent of the Sacred Heart, Mary attended Boston College, where she earned a B.S. degree in nursing. She also earned an M.S.N. in psychiatric nursing at the Yale University School of Nursing.  In her first career, she spent more than two decades as a clinical nurse specialist at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, Yale New Haven Hospital, the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health, and the Rush University College of Nursing.
 
In 1989 she became a senior associate at Edge Associates and began working on a Ph.D. degree at the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University. She completed the degree in 1991 and joined the Skidmore faculty that year.
Her teaching responsibilities included courses in organizational behavior, leadership, comparative management, and organizational theory and design.
 
Department Chair Tim Harper was Mary’s office neighbor and longtime colleague in the department’s signature course, MB 107.  He called her “pivotal in the continuation of the leadership MB 107 model” in which older students mentored and helped younger students with the rigorous course.  Harper said a highlight each year, was the executive presentations for MB 107, in which students made their final presentations. Typically the attendance at this event includes fellow students, stakeholders, parents, alumni, faculty, and friends of the college. Said Tim, “This is where Mary was at her best, entertaining guests, welcoming them, introducing them, extending networks.” Mary and Tim developed and launched MB 240, a course on coaching and leadership theory pertinent for the MB 107 student teams.
 
Longtime department colleague Marty Canavan, associate professor emeritus, noted that Mary’s “highest priority, first and foremost, was her students.”
 
Upon Mary’s retirement in 2009, then-chair Christine Page wrote Mary’s retirement citation, in which she recalled, “Mary embraced the passion of Skidmore with enthusiasm, energy, and great joy.”
 
Beyond the department, Mary contributed to the founding of the College’s International Affairs Program in the mid-1990s, and brought to the program “a continuous love for international learning,” according to Christine.
 
Mary was also a passionate supporter of the MALS program and mentored new faculty in her department.
 
In the community, Mary served on the board of directors of Saratoga Bridges (formerly the ARC), including a term as its president. Her focus while on the board was helping to develop the organization’s first strategic plan, navigating the change in organizational name, and initiating an agency leadership plan to cultivate future leaders in the field of supporting individuals living with developmental disabilities.
 
Mary was an avid athlete who loved ice dancing, tennis, skiing, and hiking. Marty remembered her passion for ice dancing. “She was a strong skater and followed ice dancing closely, including traveling to Boston, Montreal, and Philadelphia to rendezvous with fellow ice dancers.”
 
Mary is survived by two sisters, Anne Correa and Louise (Eric) Newland, and nieces Abigail Aglubat and Chloe Newland.