Paying It Forward

HARROUN WANTS TO USE HER EXPERIENCES TO HELP STUDENTS SOLVE PROBLEMS

They say that “necessity is the mother of invention.” Mary Harroun ’66 spent much of her life dedicated to the pursuit of providing a solution to an urgent need. Now, she is as dedicated to the commitment of helping CulverStockton College students pursue innovative solutions that make an impact.

“I really want to pass my knowledge on,” she said. “I can help other people.” Harroun, who lives in Mundelein, Ill., invented the

Merry Walker, a walker/chair combination made of tubular steel for people who need help to walk. She started her own corporation and sold Merry Walkers to individual customers and suppliers for nearly 30 years before closing her business. Mary and her husband, Warren Young, recently made a gift to Culver-Stockton College to set up an endowment fund for entrepreneurship with the intent of inspiring students to develop creative ideas to solve unique and ever-changing problems. In addition to providing the funding for this endowment, Mary is offering guidance, legal assistance and her enthusiasm to help young inventors follow their dreams. The original idea for the Merry Walker came to

Mary when she was working as an activity director at a retirement community in Chicago in the late 1980s. She recalls walking through the hallways one day where she observed a resident with dementia who was struggling with mobility. It was then that Mary had the “aha moment” that sparks so many useful inventions- identifying an urgent need with no obvious solution. “June 6 is a very important date for me,”

Harroun said. “I graduated from Culver-Stockton on June 6, 1966, and on June 6, 1991, the U.S. Patent Office called me and said, ‘Your patent has been approved.’”

She received another patent for an updated version of the Merry Walker two years later.

The Merry Walker differs from a standard walker in a few important ways, beginning with the fundamental design - the seat of the Merry Walker rests behind the person.

“An elderly person has lost their spatial perception,” Harroun said. “When small children want to sit in a new rocking chair, they will reach for the armrests, pull themselves up, then turn around and sit down. When they get to be 3 or 4 years old, they just jump in the rocking chair without looking. The elderly lose that sense of spatial perception and can’t judge where they are in space.”

Another unique feature of the Merry Walker is its 13 different heights, making it highly customizable for each person’s height, and it has a bar in the front which is easily removed to allow a person to position their body inside of the walker.

Harroun said her purpose in designing the Merry Walker was not to get wealthy, but to provide a way for people to be out of their wheelchairs and walking. “I only wanted to improve the quality of life for people.”

She credits Culver-Stockton with improving her own quality of life. Harroun graduated with majors in speech pathology, psychology and elementary education, but she says the liberal arts education she received continues to benefit her today.

“I really believe in smaller, liberal arts schools. CulverStockton gave me the total learning I needed for life, and I will be forever beholden to that. Ever, forever and ever and ever. And that’s remarkable.”

HEY, WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

Soon, things are going to look a little different on “the Hill.”

After the successful completion of the CulverStockton: Changing Lives! Campaign, we plan to break ground in 2021 on the Student Experience Center, which is now being referred to as the IDEA Center. The IDEA Center, which stands for the Innovation, Design and Experiential Activities Center, will be a place on campus for collaborative problem-solving that encourages students to apply knowledge in bold, creative ways. Modeled after the most successful academic innovation centers, the IDEA Center will provide an environment that allows students to identify the real problems around them, in our local community and around the globe, and creatively and thoughtfully design and apply solutions. The IDEA Center will encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, along with a mindset to identify and assess the impact that decisions and solutions make on local economies, supply chains, economic markets, production and individuals. As students progress through their time at Culver-Stockton College, they will learn how to approach decision-making in a deliberate and innovative way; a way that creates successful outcomes, provides value to their own work and employers, and promotes growth and deep understanding.

As the Midwest’s premier experiential learning college, we are committed to helping students develop in ways that provide them with a skillset for future success as they transition from college to career.

To learn more about the IDEA Center and how you can get involved, please contact Leslie Payne, VP for Winter 2021 | 25Advancement and Marketing, at lpayne@culver.edu.