Distinguished Professor Emerita Mary Jo Bona Establishes Lecture Series in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 

Distinguished Professor Emerita Mary Jo Bona was recruited to Stony Brook University in 1999 with the opportunity to build the field of Italian American Studies. However, it was her passion for women’s studies that drew her to connect with that program at Stony Brook and help to build the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) into what it is today. During her 25-year tenure, Bona’s advocacy and subsequent leadership helped develop what started as a single course into a full department with undergraduate and graduate programs and faculty spanning more than a dozen disciplines. 

Now, wanting to continue the momentum in WGSS after her retirement, Bona and her spouse, Judith Pfenninger, have established the Bona Distinguished Lectureship in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. “We thought about ways we could support the department in the future after I retired,” said Bona. “Our hope is that this lecture series highlights the department in a way that senior scholars elsewhere will take an interest in the university.”

From English to Italian American Studies

Bona didn’t start in Italian American studies or women’s studies as her major. She pursued English as an undergraduate at Loyola University, where she connected with students and professors in women’s studies programs. It wasn’t until she was earning her PhD in English at the University of Wisconsin that she decided to write her dissertation on Italian American women writers. “I was an American literature scholar at the beginning of my PhD,” she explained. “Then I changed the trajectory of my research as different subjects piqued my interest.”

As an associate professor in the Department of English at Gonzaga University, Bona and a group of seven female professors across campus came together to create the institution’s first women’s studies program. “I was chair of that program at Gonzaga when I got a call from a colleague in 1999 to come to Stony Brook and help to build the Italian American studies program,” Bona said. “I jumped at the chance to come to Stony Brook because opportunities like this didn’t usually happen, and for women, they happened even less.” 

Through various leadership positions in the College of Arts and Sciences, including graduate director of the Department of European Languages, Literatures and Cultures and director of Italian American Studies, Bona helped expand the Center for Italian Studies. She spoke with state senators, as well as at Long Island libraries and high schools, about the importance of the field. She also helped recruit faculty members and scholars to the department, including Loredana Polezzi, the Alfonse M. D’Amato chair in Italian American and Italian studies. “I served on the committee that helped bring Loredana to Stony Brook,” said Bona. “She is an amazing scholar and person and has brought a wealth of knowledge to the department.”

From Women’s Studies Program to Department

Once she settled into the Center for Italian Studies, Bona sought out the chairperson of the women’s studies program. “I went right into her office and asked how I could help,” she said. She joined the women’s studies board and started establishing courses in Italian American studies that were cross-listed with women’s studies and English, all areas of interest that she’s passionate about. 

WGSS had its beginnings in the 1970s as an undergraduate minor in women’s studies within the humanities and social sciences programs at Stony Brook. In the late 1980s, a separate Women’s Studies program was established with a minor, and over the next decade, it grew to include an undergraduate major and a graduate certificate. 

In 2010, Bona’s involvement in the program extended to chairing the renamed Women’s and Gender Studies (WaGS) program. In 2011, the program merged with another small interdisciplinary unit, the Department of Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies. For a year, Bona co-chaired the newly named Department of Cultural Analysis and Theory to ensure stability and gain access to more resources. During this period, the first cohort of PhD and MA students was accepted. Over time, though, faculty and staff felt that the success of the WaGS program required it to chart its own path as a standalone department.

With Bona at the helm as the inaugural chair, in 2016, WaGS was elevated to departmental status under its current name, WGSS. “It was a challenging time …,” said Bona. “We survived, and we thrived. And we were supported by College of Arts and Sciences deans who understood our need to hire a more diverse faculty and helped us move into the complexities of the 21st century.”

Securing the Future of WGSS

As WGSS chair, Bona helped to maintain and grow the department by focusing on interdisciplinary feminist research. According to Associate Professor and current WGSS Chair Liz Montegary, Bona fiercely advocated for institutional recognition and support for WGSS as a field. She helped to expand the program and recruit multiple talented faculty members. 

“Our department is thriving today because of Bona’s profound commitment to service, leadership and feminist knowledge production,” said Montegary. “She is an award-winning teacher, a dedicated mentor to students and faculty alike, a one-of-a-kind colleague and an unapologetically feminist scholar.”

After her time as WGSS chair ended, Bona became the associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences. While at Stony Brook, she continued her research in feminist literary studies with a focus on multiethnic literatures, transnational migration and Italian American diasporas. She authored several scholarly monographs. Her work has appeared in top journals and key collections across her primary fields and offers insights into the way gender, ethnicity and literature are studied.

Upon hearing of the New York State Endowment Match program and Simons Infinity Investment Match Challenge, Bona and her spouse thought an endowed lectureship fund was a good way to help the department grow in visibility and stature. The lectureship fund will provide support to host an annual public lecture at Stony Brook by a distinguished speaker whose field of expertise falls within the interdisciplinary scope of the department.

“I’ve spent my life in school, and I wanted to leave something to the institution of education where I spent so much time supporting, believing in and interconnecting with,” said Bona.

“And I hope the professors of the next generation can benefit from this lectureship and experience firsthand exposure to the activity of bringing scholars and authors to the WGSS department.”

Funding for the Bona Distinguished Lectureship in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is amplified by both the New York State Endowment Match program and the Simons Infinity Investment Match Challenge, which will triple the impact this endowment gift will have on Stony Brook. For more information, visit stonybrook.edu/endowments. If you have an interest in or questions about endowments or the match opportunities, contact Scott Barrett, interim vice president for advancement, at (631) 632-9128 or scott.barrett@stonybrook.edu. 

-Christine McGrath