Loyola celebrates the life of Trustee Curtis Wilson
Curtis Wilson, a deeply respected and dedicated member of Loyola’s Board of Trustees, passed away on May 15, 2022.
A senior vice president in wealth management for UBS Financial Services in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Wilson served on Loyola’s investment committee for many years before joining the Board of Trustees in October 2018. During his time as a trustee, he had served on the Equity & Inclusion, Intercollegiate Athletics, Investment, and Trusteeship committees.
“Curt was an incredibly dedicated and engaged member of the Board of Trustees. He was a frequent participant in campus events, including events of the Karson Institute, athletic events, and events in the fine arts, and he often came down from Philadelphia for a lecture,” said Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D., president of Loyola. “He was very invested in the future of the University and was enthused around the work we were doing around diversity, equity, and inclusion. He was also a long serving member of our investment committee of our Board and helped the University grow its endowment to a high-water mark in this past year.”
A graduate of University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Wilson earned his master’s in Management from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. He joined UBS in 1994 after 17 years with Goldman, Sachs & Co. as vice president for investments.
“Loyola has truly benefited from Curt’s insightful leadership and ongoing support of the University,” said Gerry Holthaus, chair of the Board of Trustees. “He was fully engaged in the life of Loyola and was always very passionate about the wellbeing of our students. He certainly embraced the Jesuit value of striving for the magis, especially in focusing on how the University supports each student while at Loyola. He will be remembered and missed.”
Wilson was the father of three—Jessica-Claire Wilson, Cicely Wilson and Sydney Mueller, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Loyola in 2004.
“Curt was always such an engaged trustee, attending athletic events, lectures, and colloquiums, but also checking in on all the touchpoints of the University,” said Robert Kelly, Ph.D., vice president and special assistant to the president. “He clearly had his finger on the pulse of what was going on. His love of Loyola ran deep.”
When the Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice celebrated its first anniversary in October 2021, he traveled down from his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to support the work of the institute.
“Curt Wilson was a great soul and a friend of the Karson Institute. He encouraged us, supported us, cheered for us, and was there for us. From the first time that he was introduced to me and the Karson Institute, he made a commitment to help us to grow,” said Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., founding director of the Karson Institute. “He said that 91łÔąĎÍř had saved his daughter's life and that he wished that when she was a student that the Karson Institute was there, and his goal was to make sure that the Karson Institute would be there for current and future Loyola students. He was a kind and thoughtful person who saw the potential in the Karson Institute and in me.”
Wilson supported the work of the Karson Institute in numerous ways and reached out to Whitehead regularly to share his excitement and find out about its progress.
“Curt made me want to be better and work harder because when he talked about the Karson Institute and the potential that he saw in me and in the work, I got excited about my own dream,” she said. “The only way that I know how to honor him is to focus on building and growing the Karson Institute in the ways in which we often talked about, laughed about, and dreamed about.”
The Jesuit Community at Loyola will remember Wilson and his family at Mass on the evening of May 24, 2022.
Arrangements
A celebration of Curtis Wilson’s life will be held on Saturday, June 4, at 2 p.m. at Ardmore Presbyterian Church, 5 West Montgomery Ave., Ardmore, PA 19003. The service can be watched live through . Donations may be made in his memory to the Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice, 91łÔąĎÍř, Attention: Advancement Division, 4501 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 21210.