Anna Lou Schaberg

Anna Lou Schaberg (B.S.’66, M.Ed.’70) worked for Richmond Public Schools for 29 years, notably coordinating programs for gifted students from 1977 to 2000.

After her retirement in 2000, Schaberg served as executive director of The Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Fund at the Virginia Nonprofit Housing Coalition. The fund, which is part of the couple’s foundation, supports nonprofit organizations and institutions that help vulnerable populations achieve stability and thrive. Her husband, Bob, created the fund and manages its finances.

While it began on a small scale, it now supports numerous organizations in greater Richmond with grant, gift and capacity-building programs, and through this fund, Anna Lou supported the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education in myriad ways.

In 2014, she learned from the dean that her interest in engaging youths coincided with the school’s need to provide practical teaching opportunities for its students.

“We talked about what could be an interesting addition to teacher education that isn’t typically explored,” Schaberg once said. “So much is geared today toward standards of learning and outcomes, but there’s an older understanding of what a broad education is all about. We came to the notion of service learning,” which allows students to immerse themselves in projects that benefit the community while following curriculum goals. She and Bob, through their foundation fund, have since supported VCU graduate student service-learning initiatives at VCU.

“It’s wonderful to be in a position to help provide funding and encouragement. It’s an unexpected gift,” Schaberg said.

In 2017, a gift from the same fund — the largest single donation in the history of the School of Education — created the school’s first distinguished endowed professorship, the Anna Lou Schaberg Professorship of Practice in Education. This faculty position concentrates on the theory and implementation of pedagogical practices that can transform a classroom, a school and a child’s education.

“My hope is that the professor of practice will prepare teachers not only to manage classrooms and instructional objectives, but to engage students in the learning and thinking process,” Schaberg said.