DePaul is expanding its research in healthcare education with help from a $3 million donation. This will support the graduate rehabilitative sciences department, merging the occupational therapy and speech language pathology programs, and will support the creation of an endowed faculty chair position. The donation will also support the construction of a state-of-the-art basketball practice facility to aid in training student athletes. 

Michael and Barbara Scudder donated the funds, and are active DePaul community members. He is alumnus of the Driehaus College of Business, and he graduated with his MBA in 1993. He currently serves as the University Board of Trustees chair. The couple has donated in the past, creating the Micheal L. and Barbara H. Scudder Endowed Scholarship. 

The new basketball facility will have practice courts for men and Women’s basketball, as facilitated by the donation and supported by DePaul’s Dream Big campaign.

Associate professor, Kate Barrett, is now the Michael and Barbara Scudder Endowed Chair for the rehabilitative sciences department– a role created underneath the donation.

“I think the opportunity for occupational therapy and speech language pathology to be together in one department really lends itself to a lot more interprofessional activities,” Barrett said.

Because of the experience-driven nature of rehabilitative sciences, the program prides itself on community engagement and hands-on training. At the end of the graduate program, students participate in an evidence-based project.

“They ask a question related to occupational therapy, use the evidence to answer that, and then present it at the pinning ceremony — so each student gets to have that opportunity to work under a faculty member and do some research that is very applicable to practice,” Barrett said.

Beyond receiving research experience, rehabilitative sciences students will be able to go out into the Chicago community and understand the inner workings and patients of the healthcare system. Community engagement experiences range from after-school STEM programs to working with individuals experiencing housing insecurity.

“They’re all throughout the Chicago area, so they definitely are learning about the social determinants of health and health disparities, and thinking about how engaging in occupations and meaningful activities can impact their health and well-being,” Barrett said.

Stephanie Dance-Barnes, dean of the College of Science and Health, said engaging with the Chicago community is a Vincentian mission ideal.

“I just think who we are as a college speaks directly to that because part of ‘what needs to be done’ is committing to ensuring that we’re bringing care to our communities through, whether it’s training students or introducing innovative research,” Dance-Barnes said.

“There’s a need, whether it’s in our schools, counseling, hospitals, there’s just a tremendous need for SLP’s and OT’s,” Dance-Barnes said. “It speaks to DePaul’s ability to address that need within our communities that we serve, and so I think this gift also recognizes that as well.”

Kelly Gillespie, director of clinical education at the rehabilitative sciences department, supports the need of SLP in a multicultural lens. At DePaul, SLP provides a bilingual English-Spanish specialization certification for its students.

“Our curriculum allows for all of our students to benefit from understanding multicultural backgrounds as well as any social determinants of health like access to care and learning advocacy for the services,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie also advocates for the current need for a rehabilitative sciences program underneath this donation, emphasizing that person-to-person dynamics influence medical change.

“I think that that also just showcases how important the person-to-person interaction in rehabilitative sciences and professions really is, especially with AI and all sorts of other things that are going on, like the person-centered care is still really important,” Gillespie said.

Dance-Barnes is grateful for the Scudders’ donation and its impact on the College of Science and Health.

“As a dean, I can’t say enough how incredibly meaningful this gift is — I’m grateful to the Scudders, their trust that they’ve placed in us and just for the opportunity that this gift creates for our students,” Dance-Barnes said. 

This story has been updated Nov. 7 2025 to reflect the most recent information. 

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