Gift to Baylor University Establishes Chair, Recognizes Longtime Faculty Member

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Baylor University announced today a gift from Michael and Jennifer Hillman of Waco, establishing The Kathy Robinson Hillman Endowed Chair in Communication. The Hillmans’ gift, on behalf of the larger Hillman family, honors and celebrates Associate Professor Kathy Hillman, B.A. ’73, and her 50 years of service at Baylor. Hillman’s University service includes her roles as director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society and director of Baptist Collections and Library Advancement.

“There are members of Baylor University’s faculty and staff who dedicate their lives in service, support and encouragement of our Baylor students, and Kathy Hillman has established just such a legacy. Having worked alongside Kathy when I first started at Baylor and since returning, I am thrilled to see her honored in this way,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “I am grateful for the Hillman family’s generous gift and for their deep commitment to Baylor and our Christian mission. Endowed faculty positions provide enduring, sustaining support for our schools and colleges, and we celebrate the impact of this lasting gift in furthering that mission.”

The Kathy Robinson Hillman Endowed Chair in Communication will support the Department of Communication within the College of Arts & Sciences. The endowment will provide the department with funding for a full-time faculty member whose life and work reflect principles consistent with a Christian worldview, supporting the teaching, research and mentoring needs of the department and its students. The endowed chair also sustains Baylor’s institutional priority of increasing faculty resourcing for research and teaching, in line with the University’s foundational pillars of transformational undergraduate education and impactful research, scholarship and graduate education as part of Baylor’s strategic plan, Baylor In Deeds.

“The Hillman Endowed Chair in honor of Professor Kathy Hillman will enable the Department of Communication to continue their support of faculty who provide student-centered mentorship,” said Lee Nordt, Ph.D., Dean of the Baylor College of Arts & Sciences. “This endowed chair will further the tradition of great teaching, inspiring mentorship and service that points our students to Christ, all of which epitomize Professor Hillman’s work at Baylor.”

A formidable Baylor legacy

Michael and Jennifer Hillman established The Kathy Robinson Hillman Chair in Communication to honor Michael’s mother, Kathy Robinson Hillman, and the 50 years she has dedicated to Baylor University as a professor, librarian and servant. 

“Our family wanted to honor the incredible career and life of service of Kathy Robinson Hillman,” said her son, Michael Hillman, B.B.A. ’02, M.B.A. ’03. “In addition, we wanted to acknowledge and celebrate the beginning of her 50th academic year at Baylor. Her remarkable journey is an inspiration to her entire family, and we are extremely proud of her and the fruits of her efforts. It is a joy to celebrate her legacy of faith and service in Baylor Communication, Baylor Libraries and the Baylor community at large.”

Kathy Hillman, a fourth-generation legacy, has a rich Baylor heritage with numerous family members attending Baylor in Waco as well as at the University’s original campus in Independence, Texas. These include her parents, husband John, B.B.A. ’74 and M.B.A. ’87, sons Marshall, B.B.A. ’01 and M.A.C. ’01, and Michael, B.B.A. ’02, M.B.A. ’03, and her daughter Holly Smith, who is an avid Baylor supporter. Kathy’s legacy even extends to Baylor’s first-ever Homecoming game in 1909, where her grandfather TP Robinson scored the game-winning touchdown against TCU.

Kathy Hillman became director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society in 2012. Additionally, she serves as associate professor and director of Baptist Collections and Library Advancement for the University Libraries. A native Texan, Hillman joined the faculty in 1976 as assistant acquisitions librarian (instructor), became acquisitions librarian in 1980 (assistant/associate professor), achieved tenure in 1983 and served as director of Special Collections from 2008-2012.

Although her student work-study job was in the athletic department, Kathy Hillman fell in love with librarianship while working a semester as the Baylor Libraries’ first full-time reference department assistant. She taught high school speech communications and English and was a school librarian for two years while completing her Master of Library Science. 

Kathy Hillman has received the Outstanding Faculty Award for Service, was elected the second female chair of the Faculty Senate, chaired the Greek Affairs Task Force that resulted in the Stacy Riddle Forum and has been a member of or chaired multiple other committees and task forces, including the group that penned the University’s current mission statement. For more than 40 years, she has been an advisor for the Baylor chapter of Delta Delta Delta.

In addition to her Baylor responsibilities, Kathy Hillman has been active in Baptist life, elected as the first female moderator of the Waco Baptist Association, President and First and Second Vice President of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, President and Vice President of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, Chair of the Baptist Standard Board and Recording Secretary and Vice President of Woman’s Missionary Union, Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention. In each of these roles, her Communications background has been a cornerstone of her leadership.

Michael Hillman is co-founder and co-owner of Cornerstone Caregiving, a Texas-based senior in-home caregiving service provider established in 2020, in addition to Founder of AxisCare software, a leading agency management software solution for personal care agencies. He and Jennifer have two sons, Sawyer and Tucker, and a daughter, Chandler. They reside in Waco and are active in their church, Antioch Waco.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments in the sciences, humanities, fine arts and social sciences, as well as 11 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. The College’s undergraduate Unified Core Curriculum, which routinely receives top grades in national assessments, emphasizes a liberal education characterized by critical thinking, communication, civic engagement and Christian commitment. Arts & Sciences faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit the College of Arts & Sciences website.