Thanks to the generosity of two dedicated donors, Fordham has just significantly strengthened its commitment to science education.

On Sept. 26, the University installed three accomplished scholars as new faculty chairs in the STEM fields: Silvia C. Finnemann, Ph.D., a Fordham biology professor whose research focuses on eye-cell function; Hans-Joachim Hein, Ph.D., a Fordham math professor who has earned international recognition for his geometry research, and Joshua A. Schrier, Ph.D., a chemistry professor and researcher who recently joined Fordham’s faculty from Haverford College. The three assumed the Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Chairs in Biology, Mathematics, and Chemistry, respectively.

“This evening’s ceremony and installation of the new Bepler STEM faculty chairs redefines what it means to study the sciences at Fordham,” said Frederick J. Wertz, Ph.D., interim dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

The endowed professorships not only bolster Fordham’s commitment to the STEM fields—they also reshape the legacy of the donors who made them possible: the late Steve Bepler, FCRH ’64, and Kim Bepler.

“Kim and Steve’s dedication to advancing the sciences has and will continue to foster countless opportunities for future generations of talented Fordham students eager to transform the world in which we live,” said Wertz.

Maura Mast, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, said the couple were among “the most remarkably generous supporters the University has ever known.”

The chairs were funded using part of a $10.5 million gift made by Steve’s estate and Kim in July 2017. The gift also funded a chair in physics, which has yet to be filled.

A Salute to Kim and Steve Bepler

Fifty-four years ago, Steve Bepler graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill. He rose to become senior vice president of Capital Research Global Investors, received an honorary doctorate from Fordham, and served as a University trustee. His widow, Kim, serves as a Fordham honorary trustee fellow. 

“Kim Bepler has devoted much of her time to philanthropy since retiring in 2002 as director of business development at Cahners Travel Group,” said Mast. “The Beplers’ legacy and incredible impact on our students’ lives and education continues to thrive and live on through Kim.”

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, said Kim shared Steve’s enthusiasm and at times, he said, “I think she was the person who sparked his enthusiasm.” 

Together, the couple made many significant gifts that will benefit Fordham students for years to come. They established two other endowed chairs—one in theology, the other in poetics; created scholarships; helped restore the University Church; and supported several programs across the University. Next month marks two years since Steve’s untimely passing in 2016.

“I often teased Steve when he was alive that he was one of the few people who said a prayer for generosity, and God heard his prayer,” said Father McShane, to a round of laughter.

Kim said her husband was generous, but he shied away from the spotlight.

“He would have frankly taken great exception to naming the STEM chairs after him. So, Father, when you get to heaven, you have some explaining to do,” she said. The crowd chuckled.

Father McShane recounted a memory of Steve wandering through the Rose Hill bookstore. The clerk, wondering if he was the father of a student, asked if he needed help. Steve declined, but when he continued to meander, the clerk returned. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Steve, with his disarming honesty, said, ‘Look, there are so many books I didn’t read when I was in college, I’m trying to make up for it now,’” Father McShane recalled. “He was not only a person who lived to be generous. He lived to learn.”

“May your lives, personal and professional, be marked by similar passions: passion for family, passion for education and the openness to discoveries every day,” Father McShane said, looking directly at the three honorees. “Live to be generous—with your talents, with your wisdom, with your love of learning.”

The Three Faculty Chairs

From eye health to quantum gravity to energy technology, the work of the new Bepler chairs spans several scientific disciplines.

Finnemann’s research has shed light on what causes blindness and how it can be prevented. Specifically, it focuses on the cell biology and diseases of the eye, particularly age-related macular degeneration—the most common cause of adult blindness in the United States. Her work has led to more than 50 publications in widely acclaimed international journals. At Fordham, she has helped the biology department obtain critical grant support from the National Institutes of Health, and she received the 2013 Fordham Award for Excellence in Teaching. She serves on the editorial board of Nature’s Scientific Reports and consults for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/NIH.

Hein’s research on quantum theories of gravity was published in the most selective journal in mathematics. He is one of the world’s leading experts on gravitational instantons—a key concept in quantum theories of gravity—and has earned international recognition for his research in differential geometry. Hein has held appointments at Imperial College London, the University of Nantes, the University of Maryland, and as of 2016, Fordham.

Schrier’s expertise is in the computational design of new materials in information and energy technology. He has authored 44 peer-reviewed papers and secured more than $8.6 million in external funding. Schrier was a Fulbright scholar at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin and a Luis W. Alvarez postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This is his first year at Fordham.

After accepting their engraved medals, the three new chairs explained their research under the 47-foot-high sloped ceiling and stained-glass window of Tognino Hall. They used layman’s lingo and pictures: a purple cross-section of a human eye, a crumpled piece of graph paper that illustrated warped space, the iconic black-and-white shot of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue, and robots with googly eyes.

Salma Youssef, FCRH ’20, the student speaker at the event, said that the new professorships enhanced math and science education at Fordham.

“Having access to such innovative, forward-thinking professors is a major reason why the STEM fields at Fordham are thriving and growing,” said Youssef, a George and Mary Jane McCartney Research Fellow. “Seeing faculty supported by Fordham donors like the Beplers is inspiring to all students like me who want to pursue academia and scientific research.”

Over the past 15 years, Fordham’s number of endowed chairs has more than tripled to reach 71, including the new Bepler chairs.

“Steve believed a world-class university should have a world-class science program,” Kim said. “We are on our way.”

• The Kim and Steve Bepler Chair in Mathematics
• The Kim and Steve Bepler Chair in Physics
• The Kim and Steve Bepler Chair in Chemistry
• The Kim and Steve Bepler Chair in Biology

The additional $2.5 million will be added to a fund for a new science building to be built eventually at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, to which the Beplers have already given $7.8 million.

“Steve was a true man of Fordham, and Kim has honored him and us with her ongoing passion for Fordham’s noble mission and involvement in the life of the University,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “We are truly grateful for Steve and Kim’s extraordinary generosity and care for Fordham. This gift will help educate generations of scholars in the Jesuit tradition, and is an investment in the sciences at Fordham.”

The University is seeing growth in STEM disciplines, including a rise in science majors, the newly launched Fordham Center for Cybersecurity (the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Fordham as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education this spring), in addition to the University’s graduates traditionally high acceptance rates in U.S. medical schools.

At the time of Steve Bepler’s death, in October 2016, Robert D. Daleo, chair of Fordham’s Board of Trustees, said, “Steve Bepler was a trusted colleague and a very astute businessman. My heart goes out to Kim and his family on their great loss. Steve was generous with his time and gifts, and both genial and straightforward in his relations with his colleagues on the Board. I will miss his wisdom and his good company.”

Kim and Steve Bepler’s investment in Fordham’s mission is profound and far reaching, now totaling $31 million. Their gifts have created several other endowed professorships and scholarships, supported Fordham’s Catholic and Jesuit mission, and they have given generously to the Fordham Founder’s Scholarship Fund. Their generosity also had an impact on several Rose Hill buildings, including the University Church (and later a new organ), where the couple contributed toward its restoration. Two years ago, their philanthropy was recognized with the naming of Bepler Commons in Faber Hall. The Beplers are among the three largest donors to the University. Fordham honored the Beplers with the Fordham Founder’s Award in 2007, and in 2014, Steve Bepler was awarded the University’s highest honor, a Doctor of Humane Letters, at Fordham’s Commencement.

Steve Bepler worked as an investment professional for nearly five decades. After earning his M.B.A. at Columbia University School of Business in 1966, he began his career at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in the investment advisory department. He joined Capital Group in 1972 and remained there for four decades, rising to senior vice president and director at the company’s Capital Research Global Investors division. He also served as an equity portfolio manager at American Funds Washington Mutual Investors Fund, Capital World Growth and Income Fund, and EuroPacific Growth Fund. He and his EuroPacific Growth team were twice (1999 and 2009) recognized by Morningstar’s “Fund Manager of the Year” Awards in the international stock arena. In addition to his financial work, Bepler taught a course at Stanford University for more than a decade.

The Beplers were married in 2002. They gave generously to a variety of educational institutions and causes, including the Archdiocese of New York, New York Nativity Schools, and Cristo Rey New York High School in Harlem. Steve Bepler was also a benefactor and board member of the Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut, Barnard College, the Inner-City Foundation, the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C., and Fairfield University in Connecticut.

“Like her late husband, Kim Bepler exemplifies the Jesuit principle of men and women for others,” said Father McShane. “We are pleased beyond words that she has embraced the community of students and scholars at Fordham. Her kindness and generosity will not only change the lives of students for generations to come, but also exhorts us to become better women and men in the service of the University.”

“We have lost one of the great ones today,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “He was so many things: a thoughtful and highly effective member of the Board of Trustees, a generous benefactor, and a dear friend. He was a man of great love and great integrity, and was singularly devoted to his family and the University. I know the Fordham family joins me in keeping his loved ones in their thoughts and prayers.”

Born in New York City on July 21, 1942, Bepler first encountered the Jesuits after his family moved to Seattle, Washington and joined a Jesuit parish, where he became an altar boy. That spiritual introduction grew into a lifelong intellectual relationship with the Jesuits that began at Seattle Preparatory School and culminated in a return to New York and enrollment at Fordham.

Two uncles and an elder brother, Peter, preceded him at the Rose Hill campus.

“They ask why on the important questions,” he once said of the Jesuits. “They’re willing to ask why, even if they don’t get the answers they want.”

At Fordham, Bepler worked six days a week, played intramural sports, and sang in the glee club, all while studying Greek and Latin. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in classics.

He also held positions as an equity portfolio manager at American Funds Washington Mutual Investors Fund, Capital World Growth and Income Fund, and EuroPacific Growth Fund. He and his EuroPacific Growth team were twice (1999 and 2009) recognized by Morningstar’s “Fund Manager of the Year” Awards in the international stock arena. In addition to his financial work, Bepler taught a course at Stanford University for more than a decade.

“Throughout his 40-plus year career at Capital Group, Steve embodied our core values. He operated with the highest integrity, was a collaborative partner with his colleagues, and made all decisions with the investor in mind. I speak on behalf of many of our long-tenured colleagues and retirees, when I say that he will be missed,” said Tim Armour, chairman and chief executive officer of Capital Group.

“Steve Bepler was a trusted colleague and a very astute businessman,” said Robert Daleo, GABELLI ’72, chairman of the Fordham Board of Trustees. “My heart goes out to Kim and his family on their great loss. Steve was generous with his time and gifts, and both genial and straightforward in his relations with his colleagues on the Board. I will miss his wisdom and his good company.”

Bepler and his wife, Kim, were married 14 years ago. The couple gave generously to a variety of educational institutions and causes, including the Archdiocese of New York, New York Nativity Schools, and Cristo Rey New York High School in Harlem. Bepler was also a benefactor and board member of the Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut, Barnard College, the Inner-City Foundation, the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C., and Fairfield University in Connecticut. Bepler had struck up a friendship with Fairfield’s president, Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., when Father von Arx was the dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill.

Bepler held several leadership positions during his tenure on Fordham’s Board of Trustees, including chair of the Student Affairs Committee, vice chair of the Mission and Identity Committee, and member of the Executive Committee. He also served as a trustee of Barnard College.

At Fordham, the couple created several scholarships, supported science education, and gave generously to the Fordham Fund. Their generosity also had an impact on several Rose Hill buildings, including the University Church, where the couple contributed toward its restoration. Two years ago, their philanthropy was recognized with the naming of Bepler Commons at Faber Hall. The Beplers are among the three largest donors to the University.

“Steve was a quiet and generous philanthropist,” said James Buckman, FCRH ’66, a member of the Fordham Board of Trustees. “While a leading benefactor of Fordham University and other Jesuit apostolic enterprises, one would rarely find his name associated with them. He preferred to endow a university chair in the name of a favorite Jesuit teacher than his own. He will be sorely missed.”

When the University honored the couple with the Fordham Founder’s Award in 2007, Kim, a successful businesswoman in her own right, spoke of her husband’s affinity for, and devotion to, his alma mater.

“I love my husband and his love of all things Fordham,” she said.

At the 2014 commencement ceremony, Bepler received the University’s highest honor: a Doctor of Humane Letters.

Throughout his life, Bepler credited the Jesuits with laying the groundwork for his success in life. He specifically honored the educators so dear to his heart by endowing two Fordham faculty chairs: the John D. Boyd, S.J., Chair in Poetic Imagination and the Karl Rahner, S.J., Memorial Chair in Theology.

Father Boyd, one of Bepler’s professors, was a distinguished scholar whose work focused on the poetic imagination and its relationship to life.

“His was the third class I ever took at Fordham,” Bepler said in 2009, speaking at an inaugural ceremony to launch the chair. “He loved to teach. He made everything interesting, which is such an important and rare quality in an educator.”

“His love of poetry was apparent both in our conversations and in his endowing a chair with the splendid tile, ‘Chair in the Poetic Imagination,’” said Heather Dubrow, Ph.D., the holder of the John D. Boyd, S.J. Chair in the Poetic Imagination at Fordham. “I will always be grateful to Stephen and Kim Bepler for enabling me to come to Fordham.”

As avid art and antique collectors, the couple traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia.

In addition to his loving wife, Kim, Bepler is survived by three children from a previous marriage, Bettina, Peter, and Galen; his brother Peter, and sister, Cathy; and two grandchildren. He also leaves behind three dogs, to which he was devoted. 

“We all come to this end point in our lives. But I have known preciously few who have spent willingly their entire lives in full conscious preparation for this moment,” said John Kehoe, FCRH ’60, FCLC ’85, a Fordham trustee. “Steve was such a rare person. His generosity of spirit in all things was as effusive as the quickness of his wry wit and humor. He treasured the gift of his early Jesuit education and, as a true disciple, labored to extend it to as many young people as he could in as many ways as he could find to do so, right to the end of his life. Because of that, and of his wife, Kim, having shared fully in that journey, his work and spirit will continue to live and be remembered long into the future.”