October 15, 2010
Professing a love for her vocation: Mary Lyons
Long-time Bryant professor shapes her career and the Communication department by keeping in tune with world changes and adapting the curriculum to meet future needs.
Mary Lyons thinks of her 40 years teaching at Bryant as not just a job but more that she’s been part of a close-knit family for all this time.
“There is no other institution quite like Bryant,” she says. “The University has created a climate where faculty of varying disciplines have opportunities to collaborate on projects and interact daily. Those of us who have been here a long time still feel we can grow, learn, and be part of a real community.”
One of the major reasons she was drawn to Bryant and continues teaching here is the applied nature of much of what she’s teaching.
“I don’t know if it’s because I had received my undergraduate degree in English from Simmons College, which also emphasized a programmatic approach to writing,” she says, “but the way writing can be presented to Bryant students is relevant to them in any field they may choose to enter.”
Some people who have been in a career for four decades might perform by rote or routine. Not Mary. “I’m still totally happy, content, and excited about my job,” she says. “It’s all about reaching the students.”
Uncovering the scoop
Mary reaches students through the evolution of the courses she teaches. “Because Bryant is a smaller institution, faculty have the ability to influence the department within a year or two,” she says. “Journalism, which is still a popular course today, came about through the Watergate scandal and reporters Woodward’s and Bernstein’s roles in bringing it to light.”
Teaching journalism started Mary down the path toward establishing a Communication program. “I owe a lot to journalism,” she says. “In addition to its being yet another fulfilling class to teach, it’s through journalism that I met my husband, Bill Parrillo.”
Bill was a sports columnist and reporter for the Providence Journal for nearly 40 years. They met when he was covering the New England Patriots training camp, and she asked him to speak to one of her classes. “Bill was an inspiration,” she says, “to the students, and to me.” Bill passed away in 2003 after a long illness.
“The journalism course became one of the courses offered when the Communication major was first offered in 1980,” Mary says, “and, naturally, I was drawn to teaching more courses in that department.”
Lifelong learning
Mary doesn’t just move around with what she’s teaching. She’s also dynamic in how she teaches. “I’m always working with new technology,” she says. “When Bryant created a videoconferencing room for the administration, my first thought was ‘how can we incorporate this technology into the curriculum?’ ” Video-Mediated Communication is now an elective offered through the Communication department.
She also wants to bring attention to a common misunderstanding: As a result of a Literary and Cultural Studies course she teaches called the Image of Business in Literature and film, she observes, “Business people think that artists – writers, philosophers, and the like– don’t understand them or don’t like them.” The fact is, Mary says, that “many of the most successful business people are very creative. It’s being able to think differently that benefits them.”
No stranger to thinking differently, Mary wanted to truly understand her students, so in the 1980s, she enrolled in the Graduate School for her Master in Business Administration. “I wanted to be able to reinforce what they were learning and offer alternative ways of looking at a problem,” she says. “It aided me in understanding where the kids were coming from.”
And so, as she begins her 41st year of teaching at Bryant, she is still evolving along with the courses. “Right now, I’m thinking about working with the Entrepreneurship and Marketing departments to create a course on social media covering all three disciplines,” says Mary. The idea of retirement hasn’t even entered her mind," she says. “What else could I do that I enjoy this much?”
