A portrait of Thomas V. Wolfe was formally unveiled at Hendricks Chapel on June 1. The portrait, part of the Syracuse University Art Collection, will be hung in the chapel’s narthex this summer, displayed alongside four other portraits of previous Hendricks Chapel deans.
Wolfe, the University’s senior vice president and dean of student affairs, was the fifth dean of Hendricks Chapel from January 1999 until June 2008, when he was appointed to his current position by Chancellor Nancy Cantor.
The portrait shows Wolfe opening the door to Hendricks Chapel, symbolizing his work and ministry over the years.
“I am humbled to be honored this way,” says Wolfe. “It is a privilege to be counted among those who preceded my tenure as dean. I continue to draw inspiration from their lives and work.”
There have been six deans in the chapel’s 82-year history: William H. Powers (1930-1944); Charles C. Noble (1945-1967); John H. McCombe Jr. (1967-1980); Richard L. Phillips (1980-1998); Wolfe; and current dean Tiffany L. Steinwert, who began her tenure in 2010.
Wolfe’s portrait was created by Ithaca-based portrait artist Brian O’Toole Makepeace. Makepeace was granted his first portrait commission at age 15. He has completed more than 250 portraits since that time, including the portraits of Hendricks deans McCombe and Phillips and former SU Chancellor Kenneth Shaw.
Prior to his 1999 appointment as the dean of Hendricks Chapel, Wolfe served as the University’s interdenominational Protestant chaplain and pastor of United Methodist parishes in Moravia and Ithaca in upstate New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lycoming College, a master of divinity degree from Pacific School of Religion and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from SU. He is an ordained elder in full connection with the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church. He was ordained in 1980.
He is currently an elected senator of the University Senate of the United Methodist Church and serves as secretary. In 2010, he was elected a trustee at Lycoming College and serves on the executive committee and the Strategic Issues and Assessment Committee, and is chair of the Academic Policies Committee.
At SU, Wolfe also serves on the University Senate, is an adjunct faculty member in the School of Education’s higher education graduate program, and has taught Intergroup Dialogue courses within The College of Arts and Sciences.
Among his civic interests, Wolfe has served Central New York as the former president for InterFaith Works of CNY. He chaired the 2008, 2009 and 2010 White Ribbon Campaigns for Vera House, where he completed two full terms on the board and was board president in 2006. Wolfe was recently honored at the 2012 InterFaith Works Leadership Awards Dinner. He continues to be involved in a variety of community initiatives that bring diverse people together to address common concerns.
Wolfe and his wife, the Rev. Marilyn N. Wolfe, are the parents of two daughters, Erin Wolfe Barkan and Kimberly Wolfe.
