James R. and Beatrice A. Halstead

James R. and Beatrice A. Halstead Endowed Scholarship

The James R. & Beatrice A. Halstead Endowed Scholarship marries two of the things that characterized the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Halstead and which they shared with their children: education and travel. Though they had little formal education themselves, Mr. and Mrs. Halstead valued and emphasized learning in their family. They read widely, particularly regarding current events, navigation and exploration, history and spirituality. They traveled the country and the world, seeing many different places and meeting a wide variety people. Most importantly, they respected and honored those they met.

When their children decided to endow a scholarship, the three – Mr. & Mrs. John Wilson, Ms. Jan Halstead and Fr. James Halstead — gave the scholarship their parents’ names. Their wish is that DePaul students travel the globe “… seeing poverty and wealth, and experiencing beauty, wonder, goodness, suffering and joy in many different people and places.”

Rev. James R. Halstead, O.S.A., began teaching at DePaul in September, 1987. After earning doctorates in religious studies and moral theology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, (Louvain, Belgium), he taught part-time in the Department of Religious Studies for a year before accepting a tenure track appointment. While teaching at DePaul, Father Halstead has led study abroad trips to Greece & Turkey, Japan, Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he taught in Lithuania as part of a Lithuanian faculty development program. Fr Halstead has participated in DePaul faculty development trips to Africa and Asia and in the Vincentian Heritage program in France.