Local Area Networks, broadband connections, laptop computers and the digital highway were unheard of when Joan Squires entered the workforce after graduating from Mount Saint Vincent in 1973. Today, however, as Executive Vice President in the Office of Technology for Mutual of America, she manages such technology every day.

Joan Squires began her career with Mutual of America in 1976 in the Administrative Services Division. She has held management positions in a number of departments, including marketing and government reporting, and is now on the cutting edge of the rapidly evolving field of information technology. In her role at Mutual of America, Ms. Squires manages all of the Company’s information technology and systems. She ensures that the Company’s investments in technology create tangible benefits, including enhanc¬ing client service, creating new business opportunities, and reducing costs.

Ms. Squires’ life and career represent the challenges and opportunities facing current and future Mount students. The liberal arts education they receive at Mount Saint Vincent provides the framework for life achievement. “A liberal arts education emphasizes the importance of writing and communication skills. The ability to communicate effectively is critical to professional and personal fulfillment,” says Squires. “A liberal arts education produces well-rounded students by exposing them to different schools of thought, encouraging them to think and form beliefs. Effective communications, prob¬lem-solving and critical thinking—skills which are developed in a liberal arts education—prepare students to succeed in today’s workforce.”

In addition to serving as one of the Co-Chairs for the Capital Campaign, Ms. Squires and her husband Thomas Moran have contributed to the support of a new computer facility on the ground floor of the Elizabeth Seton Library. This gift has been made in memory of her brother, Stephen J. Maloney. Ms. Squires and her husband have pledged an additional major gift to support the new computer center and for facility upgrades in the Science and Maryvale Halls. This pledge is dedicated to her parents, John and Joan Maloney.

The Stephen J. Maloney Computer Center will better accommodate the technological demands of Mount students while preparing them to excel in a fast paced global community. This increased access to modern technology and the availability of group study spaces will allow Mount students to further develop their analytical and technical skills. “Education and lifelong learning were important to my brother, Stephen,” Ms. Squires says. “He would have embraced technology, particularly the Internet, as a highly effective learning tool. The Stephen J. Maloney Computer Center will be a place that Stephen would enjoy, a relaxed environment where students at the College can broaden and enrich their learning experience and prepare themselves for the future, not just through technology, but through interactions with one another.”

Joan Squires continually illustrates the importance of global thinkers and leaders in the modern world. She believes that Building Our Future will ensure that the men and women who study at the College will be prepared to succeed in our swiftly changing, technology driven, twenty-first century world.