Mary Schaub, First Director of The Children’s Center at USM, Receives Congressional Honor from Senator Wicker’s Office, Named Mississippian of the Month
Tue, 05/06/2025 - 10:30am | By: Courtney Tesh
In March, current and former staff members and supporters of The Children’s Center for Communication and Development at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), along with university faculty and staff, and longtime colleagues and friends of Mary Schaub gathered outside the Center as she was presented with not one but two special honors, unbeknownst to her.
The gathering at the Center’s circle drive was small and intimate, but monumental in meaning. The drive that has been traversed by families receiving services for roughly a half-century and the building that has housed not only the Center, but Schaub’s office for the like, provided a felicitous backdrop for such a meaningful day.
The Children’s Center, which recently celebrated a remarkable 50 years of life-changing services for children aged birth to five years and their families, now gathered specifically to honor the one who started it all.
In 1973, Dr. Robert Rhodes recruited Schaub to join the faculty at Southern Miss because of her experience and training in early childhood speech therapy, which was extremely rare at the time. She moved to Hattiesburg from Iowa, where she was practicing, to begin what would become a 50+ year career at USM, which continues today. Recognizing the need to support young children with complex needs before entering school (a novel and controversial concept at the time) and acting on pleas from families needing services for their children, Rhodes, Schaub and Dr. Bob Thomas dared to envision a unique program that would provide direct services for children and their families at no cost to them, all while training university students.
With the support of many, including Howard Stroud, Paul Cotton, and Carroll Ingram to name a few, The Children’s Center (then Preschool Language Program) was born in 1974 and became a pioneer in early intervention, with Mary Schaub at the helm as the program’s first director.
And 50 years later, the Center’s current director, Sarah Myers, had the privilege to present Schaub, by whom she herself was taught, with a congressional honor for her years of service to Mississippi and the vast impact of her work on families and individuals in the state. She stood alongside Chris Vignes from Senator Roger Wicker’s office and read aloud the official tribute to Mary Schaub, Mississippian of the Month, signed by Senator Wicker himself.
As Myers read the last passage from Senator Wicker, “Mrs. Schaub’s career is a testament to the impact one educator can have on countless lives. I join my fellow Mississippians in thanking Mrs. Mary Schaub for her half-century of work in the classroom and for the gift of speech that she has given to thousands of children,” it was clear the sentiment was shared by all in attendance.
“Mary Schaub has served as a pillar in the Southern Miss unit now called the School of Speech and Hearing Sciences for over five decades now,” said Dr. Steve Cloud, director of the school. “Knowing that she started The Children’s Center with only six students and seeing how the Center has grown and extended its outreach to serve approximately 140 children and families today, is both awesome and awe-inspiring.”
Immediately following the presentation of the congressional report, Schaub was surprised yet again by the unveiling of a special stone engraved and installed along the Center’s circle drive. Retired associate dean of the College of Health at USM, and former colleague and dear friend of Mary Schaub, Dr. Sue Burchell took the floor and talked about her friend’s steadfast work and longstanding support of the Center. Burchell, who now also serves alongside Schaub on the Center’s advisory board, and her husband, Charles, donated the stone––beautifully engraved by Brackman’s Stepping Stone Rock and Garden Center––as a permanent reminder of their friend’s legacy and as an invitation to join the giving society named in her honor.
The Schaub Society was founded by The Children’s Center in 2024 to honor the Center’s rich past while helping pave the way for its future. Members of the society commit to supporting The Children’s Center on an ongoing basis, through monthly donations of $5 or more.
“Mary Schaub has been and continues to be The Children’s Center’s own personal Energizer Bunny,” said Burchell. “From her initial vision over 50 years ago to lending her name to the Schaub Society during its 50th anniversary, her impact spans people of all ages and walks of life, across generations. We are honored to recognize Mary for her efforts.”
Schaub, humble and composed by nature, was moved to tears by the day. “It’s not often I find myself overcome with emotion,” she said. “But today was a wonderful day. There are no words to describe how honored I am to be recognized in this way, and how delighted and encouraged I am for the future of The Children’s Center.”
“It’s never lost on me the great honor and responsibility that my role as director of The Children’s Center holds,” said Myers. “This program was and is a pioneer in early intervention. I am both grateful to and inspired by the incredible leaders that held this position before me, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Mary and the courage it took to begin a program centered around a premise not many thought worthy at the time. I’m so thankful for her steadfast commitment to what she knew was right and necessary for the children of Mississippi.”
“Countless students are better off because of Mary Schaub,” said Senator Wicker. “She forever changed the way Mississippi’s children receive help with communication struggles, and this Center will continue her remarkable legacy. Mississippian of the Month exists to recognize those like Mary who have contributed so much to the Magnolia State.”
If you’d like to learn more about becoming a member of the Schaub Society, thereby helping The Children’s Center continue providing exemplary services for children aged birth to five years with complex disabilities and communication differences at no cost to their families, click here.