Wendt Character Initiative Staff

Mary Bryant joined the University in 2015 and provides administrative support to the Director of the Wendt Character Initiative. She earned a BA in Biology, Theatre Arts, and German and an MFA. in Comparative Literature—Translation from the University of Iowa.

Dr. Annalee Ward directs the Wendt Character Initiative, a campus-wide effort to promote excellent moral character and lives of purpose.  She brings a passion for students and a love of learning to the work of guiding the various programs.  After a long career as a professor of communication arts, her generalist background, interest in ethics, rhetoric, and popular culture, along with work on the art of preaching inform her work in the Center.

"It's a privilege to work collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff in an environment where a meaning-filled University Mission guides our work all for the glory of God."

Her research interests are diverse, and currently she facilitates a research team that produces an online journal, "Character and . . .".

Some of her publications include: Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film; “The Tourist Gaze and the Church: Megachurch as Tourist Site;”  “Gran Torino and Moral Order;" and “Multi-dimensional Media of Theme Parks and Museums.”