Findlay, Ohio, July 8, 2004 — The University of Findlay inducted two honorees into its Performing Arts Wall of Fame during the SummerStock 2004 Premiere Reception on July 7.

The UF Performing Arts Wall of Fame honors former students, faculty and community members who have unselfishly given their time and energy to the advancement of the performing arts at The University of Findlay. Inductees were Mary Snyder Kirk, L.H.D., and William Jack McBride, Ed.D.

Mary Snyder Kirk, a Findlay native, was the full-time organist at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. She held that job for 58 years.

Kirk has been a member of numerous Findlay-area service organizations, including the Black Swamp Guild of Organists and the Findlay Civic Music Club, for which she served several times as accompanist for joint Findlay College and Findlay Community Chorus performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and other large choral works. She also performed in numerous recitals at UF, both as an accompanist for music students and as a duo with fellow pianist Wendene Shoupe.

Kirk is a charter member of Town and Campus, which provides scholarships to UF students. In 1984, Kirk was named a Distinguished Associate of Findlay College. This award is presented to Findlay associates who, by their personal endeavors, financial support and leadership, have brought distinction to the institution.

In 1965 Kirk and her husband Harry Kirk donated a nine-foot Mason-Hamlin grand piano to the Findlay College music department.

Kirk founded a charitable trust in 1992 directing funds to be used in renovating the University’s Frank J. Egner Center for the Performing Arts.

In May 1996, the University honored Kirk with a doctorate in humane letters.

Shoupe accepted the award on behalf of Kirk, who currently lives in Dallas with her daughter Barbara Hershey.

William Jack McBride retired in 1984 after serving 20 years at the University as vice president for academic affairs and the dean of faculty. Upon his 1984 retirement, McBride served as assistant to the president until 1992, when he permanently retired from UF.

McBride is a native of Beaver Falls, Pa. He moved to Ohio to study music at Muskingum College. He also studied music in Chicago and at the Julliard School of Music in New York. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees in music from Columbia University.

McBride worked in public school systems in New York and Alabama before 1957, when he was appointed associate professor in Baldwin Wallace College’s Conservatory of Music.

Two years later he joined Mount Union College as its first dean of students.

McBride began work at then Findlay College on Sept. 1, 1964. While serving as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty, McBride instituted the first Findlay freshman seminar in 1971. These seminars, designed to foster close relationships between faculty and small classes of freshmen are still part of the UF curriculum.

According to G. Richard Kern, Ph.D., in his Findlay College: The First Hundred Years, McBride at Findlay “devoted considerable time and effort to strengthening the faculty and curriculum, and improving the quality of the instructional program.”

McBride is one of the founders of the Findlay Light Opera Company, and he has served as a performer, chorus master and promoter for the company. He has also performed in numerous productions at the University.

McBride and his wife, Betty McCrory McBride, are members of the Mazza Enthusiasts, the Forum and the SummerStock Curtain Raisers. They are enthusiastic attendees of numerous UF and community performing arts events.

McBride instituted the Hancock Leadership program with the Findlay-Hancock Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of numerous Findlay-area community organizations, such as the Arts Partnership of Hancock County and the board of the local YMCA.

The McBrides were named Distinguished Associates of UF in 1995.

The couple has six children and 10 grandchildren.