In Memoriam: Mary Phillips Wesley

Posted March 2, 2016

The College remembers our friend and colleague Mary Phillips Wesley who passed away on February 23, 2016.

Wesley, along with her husband, James Wesley, established the James and Mary Wesley Center for New Media and Education Research within the Ivan Allen College School of Literature, Media, and Communication in 1997. The Wesley Center promotes the practical, theoretical, and historical investigation of the application and development of new media technologies in the areas of education, design, digital art, and culture. Mr. Wesley also served on the Ivan Allen College Board of Advisors for many years.

Mary Wesley was a generous philanthropist and contributor to the Ivan Allen College, the School of Bioengineering at Georgia Tech, and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

As a lifelong Methodist, Wesley was an active member of the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Women organization. She was dedicated to her family and is survived by her husband, two sons, and four grandsons.  

“On behalf of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and especially for those of us who worked closely with Mary, I offer heartfelt condolences to Jim and each member of the Wesley family,” said Dean Jacqueline Royster. “We feel privileged to be the home of the center bearing the Wesley’s name and their long-standing commitment to research and education that forms a cutting edge for the intersection of art, communication, and literary forms and digital media.”

Services for Mary Wesley were held on February 26.

Find out more about Mary’s life and philanthropy in her obituary.