Chris and Judy Hunter have offered the gift of consistency
May 29, 2025 — When Chris and Judy Hunter graduated from Brown University in 1971, they started making a modest donation to their alma mater.
Upon embarking on their careers at Grinnell, they later followed suit with gifts to the College. In fact, the retired Writing Lab director and emeritus sociology professor’s annual contribution to Grinnell is one of the longest active streaks among faculty and staff.
Chris and Judy Hunter
“We had the idea of donating to educational institutions we valued,” Judy says.
In 1976, the couple arrived in Grinnell and faced two immediate challenges. Judy wanted to continue teaching high school English, but there weren’t any openings, and Chris was facing a sociology department in crisis.
“If I had understood what I was about to do,” Chris recalls while laughing, “I would have run away.”
Judy decided to walk, not run, across campus one day and her path took her past the Writing Lab. She met Mathilda Liberman, then the Writing Lab’s director, who said, “Come teach here.” It was the start of a career that would span 38 years and include highlights such as launching the Writing Lab’s student writing mentor program and earning honorary membership in the class of 2012.
“What more could you ask for?” Judy says. “It was the greatest kind of teaching opportunity, one-on-one instruction with very motivated students, and glimpses of many different college courses.”
“And you didn’t have to grade them,” Chris jokes.
Meanwhile Chris was methodically rebuilding the sociology department. “The department had died, and we were trying to bring it back,” he says. During his first two years, Chris taught 11 different courses. He recalled how he and Ilse Leitinger (the only other sociology faculty member at the time) scoured peer institution course catalogs to figure out what classes to offer and who could teach them.
Over time, Chris served as department chair and had a hand in hiring many members of the department’s faculty. “I tried to establish a department where we had good relationships,” he says. “We had good people who were oriented to the mission of teaching at a small liberal arts college.”
The Hunters were also part of a group of four families with Writing Lab ties that started a weekly potluck group. “It was an eclectic group,” Judy recalled about its members, Liberman, English professor Peter Connolly and Writing Lab staff member Karen Connolly, theatre professor Sandy Moffett and Betty Moffett, who also at one point directed the Writing Lab. Betty and Judy were longtime office neighbors, and the Hunters and Moffetts continue to see each other for dinner.
Judy Hunter is pictured with Hiba Elnour ’12 at the 2012 Baccalaureate ceremony in Herrick Chapel.
With time, the Hunters became deeply involved in the civic life of the Grinnell community, too. At various times, Chris and Judy have served on the boards of the Grinnell Area Arts Council, Second Mile, Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA), the League of Women Voters, and the Iowa chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Judy has been deeply committed to advocating for increased public education funding through ballot referenda and the Grinnell-Newburg Education Foundation. In town, they’re also known as the parents of Jenny and Mike Hunter ’02. Mike taught math and directed theatre productions at Grinnell High School for many years until pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science recently.
If there’s a singular through line for the contributions that Judy and Chris have made, it can best be described as expanding access to education and addressing needs across the College.
Over their long philanthropic relationship, they have supported many different areas and projects. They contributed to the Carol Replogle Nielsen ’56 Preschool Laboratory Endowed Fund. Both Jenny and Mike attended the College Preschool and the fund honors Nielsen – Judy’s longtime tennis partner. The couple also contributed to the Supporting Our Students (SOS) COVID relief fund that ensured students could travel home at the outset of the 2020 pandemic.
They also have made teaching and philanthropic contributions to the Liberal Arts in Prison program, which Chris says was a way to “reach out to another group of students who would not otherwise have access to the opportunities that the College could provide.”
The couple have also donated to student financial aid and have made a longtime monthly contribution to the Pioneer Fund, the College’s unrestricted fund. “I really value the effort to get students, who may not have even thought about it, into college,” Judy says.
“A lot of what makes Grinnell, Grinnell, are the students,” Chris added. “Both of us felt very committed to the students and wanted a wide range of students to be here. That’s one of the strengths of the College.”
Nearly 50 years after their arrival in Grinnell, the impact of the Hunters’ collective efforts continue to be felt by countless students, alumni, faculty, staff, and Grinnell residents. And that’s the greatest gift of all.
—by Joe Engleman ’14
For your information:
The Grinnell College fiscal year concludes June 30. If you haven’t made an annual gift and wish to do so, visit the online giving form or call the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 866-850-1846.
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