Butler University recently received a $4.4 million gift commitment from an anonymous donor in memory of two beloved former Butler faculty members, Bill Ney ʼ58 MS ʼ67, and Ed Shaughnessy ʼ58 MA ʼ63. The gift is a testament to the enduring influence of dedicated Butler faculty members in the lives of their students and in the broader community. Of the total gift, $4 million will be used to support students and faculty in the College of Communication’s Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) department through the William Ney Endowed Professorship and the William Ney Memorial Scholarship. The remainder will be used to establish the Dr. Ed Shaughnessy Memorial Scholarship for students studying English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The William Ney Endowed Professorship is the first endowed faculty position to be established in the College of Communication (CCOM) since the creation of the College in 2010. The position will be held by a full-time faculty member in SLHS and will provide support for faculty research, teaching, and scholarly development for the individual named to the position. The William Ney Memorial Scholarship will support students majoring in SLHS.

“We are incredibly humbled by this gift–the largest in CCOM history–and are thrilled that it recognizes Professor Bill Ney, a person who helped make not just the College of Communication possible, but who founded our Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences program,” Joe Valenzano, Dean of the College of Communication, says. “It is evidence of the incredible impact our faculty have had, and continue to have, on our students, and represents how our students, faculty, alumni, and friends actively live The Butler Way.” 

Since its early days under Ney’s leadership, the department now known as Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences has grown to include five clinical opportunities that offer students a chance to provide supervised clinic services or therapy to people in the community. These programs include the on-campus Butler Speech-Language Clinic, the Community Preschool Screening Program, the Butler Audiology Clinic, the Butler Early Language and Literacy Preschool Program (BELL), and the Butler Aphasia Community. Students also have several opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research in the field with their professors. Both the research and clinical aspects of the SLHS program are an integral part of student growth and development and allow the application of classroom learning to practical, meaningful experiences.

“We are so grateful for Professor Ney’s founding contributions to the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences program,” SLHS Department Chair Tonya Bergeson says. “He made lasting positive impacts on the careers and lives of fellow faculty and students. We are honored and excited to continue his legacy of nurturing students as life-long learners and future clinicians. This funding will help us develop even stronger faculty-student relationships and provide the clinical and research experiences that set up our students for success in their careers.”

Mentors of Lasting Influence

Raised in Indianapolis a few miles from campus, Ney attended Butler for his undergraduate degree and was a member of the Butler football team. Ney returned to Butler to begin his teaching career in 1970 in what was then known as the speech department. He is credited with founding the University’s speech pathology program a few years later and developing its undergraduate major. He also helped launch the Speech-Language Clinic and began a Master’s degree program in Speech-Language Pathology, which was later placed on hold in 1991. Ney passed away in 2022 at age 88 and is survived by his wife, Judie, and children, Willie and Wendi.

Willie says his father would have been moved to learn of the gift made in his honor.

“He was very humble and would have deflected any individual credit for sure,” Willie says. “He would have talked about the Butler family and the team that was around him in the speech department and throughout his whole journey. And he would have talked about the positive impact this would make on the institution. But for us as a family, this is a really big deal because it’s people like him who don’t want the attention who deserve it the most. He served a lot of people in his life, and obviously he made a big impact. It couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

Ney was active in faculty governance at Butler, serving as Chair of the Faculty Assembly. He also coached youth athletic teams at Tab Recreation and was involved in social justice causes in Indianapolis and beyond.

“He was active in the community and stood up for civil and human rights. It wasn’t just his academic life, but what he did beyond the walls of Butler, too. He lived a rich and beautiful life,” Willie says.

CCOM Associate Dean and Professor of SLHS Suzanne Reading worked alongside Ney for many years, eventually taking over the role of Program Director from Ney in 1998. Ney taught his last class in the fall of 2011. Reading says the gift is a fitting tribute for a colleague who gave so much to Butler and his students.

“Bill was kind, caring, thoughtful, and trustworthy. He was dedicated to student welfare and nurtured them as he nurtured the program that he built. His heart was always in the right place – love for his family, support for his colleagues, and joy and excitement for new ventures. I will always miss my mentor and friend,” Reading says.

The Dr. Ed Shaughnessy Memorial Scholarship, also created through the anonymous donor’s gift, honors the Edna Cooper Professor of English Literature Emeritus who taught at Butler from 1965-1992. Shaughnessy was a 2001 recipient of the Butler Medal for his many years of service and dedication to Butler. Even after his retirement in 1992, he maintained regular office hours in Irwin Library so that he could be available to students and faculty. Shaughnessy passed away in 2005.

Philanthropic gifts fuel our mission. The Office of University Advancement exists to match the Butler community’s philanthropic interests with University needs in support of our strategic direction. Make a gift today or learn more about Butler’s current giving priorities, including how you can join in supporting our outstanding faculty.