Mary Esther Van Shura's Life of Public Service Shows the Power of Saying Yes
Type: Profile
Mary Esther Van Shura, EdD
Mary Esther Van Shura, EdD, has a simple philosophy about life: say yes.
Saying yes has taken her from an elementary school classroom to disability advocacy, Pittsburgh government offices, presidential campaigns, and the White House. Along the way, she has served at nearly every level of government, toured Air Force One, and known two presidents.
And she is still saying yes.
"I believe that as long as you are above the grass, you have a responsibility to live fully and passionately as a member of our community," said Dr. Van Shura, a member of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) Board of Trustees.
The roots of that philosophy stretch back to her childhood in Pennsylvania's coal region.
"You dig deep, work hard, and hope your light is on at the end of the day," she said. "That's what coal miners do."
Her father never held a political office, but he was deeply interested in politics and believed that everyone had a responsibility to be an active member of their community. He was known to intervene when someone was struggling, while her mother made sure anyone who was alone or needed somewhere to go was welcome.
Her Catholic education reinforced those lessons. From kindergarten through college at College Misericordia, now Misericordia University, Van Shura was educated by the Sisters of Mercy, whose commitment to social justice had a profound influence on her.
Her grandmother, who immigrated from Austria, offered another lasting lesson.
The roots of that philosophy stretch back to her childhood in Pennsylvania's coal region.
"You dig deep, work hard, and hope your light is on at the end of the day," she said. "That's what coal miners do."
Her father never held a political office, but he was deeply interested in politics and believed that everyone had a responsibility to be an active member of their community. He was known to intervene when someone was struggling, while her mother made sure anyone who was alone or needed somewhere to go was welcome.
Her Catholic education reinforced those lessons. From kindergarten through college at College Misericordia, now Misericordia University, Van Shura was educated by the Sisters of Mercy, whose commitment to social justice had a profound influence on her.
Her grandmother, who immigrated from Austria, offered another lasting lesson.
When Dr. Van Shura once asked what gave her the courage to leave home for America, her grandmother replied, “It was not courage, but the pursuit of freedom; it was the liberation of the spirit.”
She urged the young girl to remain focused on that same pursuit of freedom for everyone.
“God willing,” Dr. Van Shura said, “some people think that I did a little bit of that in my life.”
An Early Instinct to Advocate
Long before advocacy became a part of her professional life, the instinct to stand up for someone being pushed to the margins was already strong.
In elementary school, she had a classmate with a disability who was bullied by boys who cruelly called the girl "germs." When the class held a poster contest, Dr. Van Shura decided to make hers about what she was witnessing.
It wasn't much of an artistic achievement, she readily admits. But its message was simple: "When you call people germs and make them sad, don't forget they are the good, and you are the bad."
The poster won.
The nun who selected it told Dr. Van Shura that she hadn't won because of the artwork, but for the courage it took to publicly defend her friend.
"That was my first experience with advocacy," she said. "I remind all that people are marginalized because people in power draw the margins."
Mary Esther Van Shura, EdD, JHF Board member and adjunct associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, leads a group discussion at a May 18 event hosted by JHF and Carnegie Mellon University on "Reimagining Home-Delivered Meals."
Years later, that same childhood instinct would become a professional purpose.
Dr. Van Shura began her career as a fifth-grade teacher in rural Waverly, New York, where she taught for eight years. She loved the ability teachers have to expand what children believe is possible.
"Teachers can really get students to dream, especially in rural communities," she said. "I don't think you can ever educate unless you understand the point of departure of the person you are teaching. You have to understand their life experiences, their challenges, and their dreams."
She continued her own education, earning a master's degree in education administration and policy studies from the State University of New York at Albany and later a Doctor of Education from the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1981, an opportunity took her to Pittsburgh, where a nonprofit was developing community-based care for people with intellectual disabilities who had previously lived in institutions. Dr. Van Shura thought she would stay a year. More than four decades later, Pittsburgh is still home.
The work was challenging. Moving people out of institutions and into neighborhoods encountered significant resistance.
In one community, members of the organization were threatened to be arrested for bringing individuals with disabilities into a community, but the courts ruled in their favor, changing the definition of "family" to allow up to eight unrelated people living together.
But Dr. Van Shura never lost her determination to see that "everyone should have the right to live in the community."
Finding Her Way Into Politics
Even as Dr. Van Shura built a career in education and disability advocacy, another life in public service was taking shape.
Her entry into national politics began with a television set, a Democratic National Convention, and a woman from Kansas wearing a donkey hat.
Watching the convention in 1976, she decided that if someone could look that ridiculous on television and still be chosen to serve, so could she.
There were two problems: Dr. Van Shura had no political connections and no idea how the process worked.
So, she started calling.
When she contacted President Jimmy Carter's campaign about getting involved, she was told they were looking for people with experience. She boldly pushed back.
"Here's your problem. You want young people. Young people call. You tell us we have to be old," she recalled telling them. "What do I need to do?"
She got her answer: work for the campaign in New York's Southern Tier after teaching and devote her summers to the effort, and they would help get her to the 1980 Democratic National Convention.
"Deal," she said.
Not only did Dr. Van Shura make it to the convention; she was appointed to the Democratic National Committee's Rules Committee amid a consequential fight over whether delegates would remain bound to candidates on the first ballot. At 28, she was selected as a whip for the New York and Puerto Rican delegation.
It was the beginning of a political and public-service career that would eventually span local, state, and national politics.
Mary Esther Van Shura with Bill Clinton.
Dr. Van Shura managed successful campaigns for Pittsburgh City Council and the Pennsylvania House; helped lead Harris Wofford's historic 1991 U.S. Senate campaign; directed Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign in Western Pennsylvania; and later served as Director of Wofford's Pennsylvania office. She was a Pennsylvania presidential elector for President Bill Clinton in 1992 and, nearly three decades later, served as Teller for Pennsylvania's Electoral College for President-elect Joseph Biden in 2020.
Her government service would take her from the U.S. Senate to the City of Pittsburgh, where she oversaw senior services as Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation, and to Allegheny County, where she served as Director of Community Affairs in the County Executive's office. Gubernatorial appointments, confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate, also led her to serve as a Trustee of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and on the Pennsylvania Council on Aging.
Running parallel to it all, she continued teaching for 16 years as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.
"I always had multiple irons in the fire," she said.
Saying Yes to History
Among those many chapters, a few experiences stand apart.
In 1991, she received a call about a U.S. Senate campaign that few expected to succeed: Harris Wofford's race against former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Senate Attorney General Dick Thornburgh.
When people questioned why she said yes, leaving a good job to join a political campaign, she saw it differently.
"Where else could you get an opportunity to work for a man of history," she asked.
Wofford's history in civil rights and public service, including advising President John F. Kennedy, made the opportunity especially meaningful to her. His campaign's focus on healthcare access also resonated with her rural Pennsylvania roots and remains important to her today.
Then came another call. And another yes.
James Carville and Paul Begala, who had been involved in Wofford's campaign and were now helping lead Bill Clinton's presidential effort, brought Van Shura onto his 1992 campaign in Western Pennsylvania. She remembers being told the region was the fifth "must-win" area in the country.
Clinton won, and Dr. Van Shura became one of Pennsylvania's presidential electors.
Her political life brought extraordinary experiences — from relationships with two U.S. presidents to a tour of Air Force One and an invitation by President Joe Biden to see Pope Francis at the White House — but none matched taking her mother to the White House to meet President Clinton.
After the introduction, Dr. Van Shura's mother turned around and tapped President Clinton on the shoulder to tease that her daughter was at the White House so often that he should hire her. The Secret Service reacted. Dr. Van Shura was mortified.
"I am as proud of you as his mom is of him," her mother said.
To which Dr. Van Shura replied, "But Mom, he's the president."
"Not in a mother's eyes," she said unflinchingly.
For all her proximity to political power, Dr. Van Shura's philosophy has always been centered on what people are supposed to do with it.
Inspired by Aristotle, she often reminds her students that politics derives from polis, the public.
"Ultimately it is our responsibility to serve the polis," she said. "I tell young people, you will survive in politics if you live by your passion and your principle."
A Commitment to Service That Continues
Retirement, for Dr. Van Shura, has hardly meant stepping away.
She currently serves on the Duquesne University School of Nursing Advisory Board, AARP Pennsylvania Executive Council, Bender Leadership Academy Board of Directors, and the JHF Board of Trustees.
At JHF, many strands of her life's work come together: healthcare access, healthy aging, public policy, advocacy, and the belief that communities are strongest when everyone has the opportunity to participate.
She was drawn to the Foundation by what she calls its "decades-long commitment to elevating the human condition of all sectors of our society."
"To have the opportunity to engage with those that have such strong commitment to that goal is just humbling," she said.
She also rejects the notion that growing older means retreating from public life.
"Just because you retire doesn't mean you tire of life," she said.
For Dr. Van Shura, continuing to contribute also means helping the next generation find its own place in public life. She hopes to help protect the integrity of the democratic process and inspire young people to become actively engaged in it.
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis is among those she has encouraged along the way.
"Looking at both of us, you might think, what does this young guy from the Mon Valley have in common with Mary Esther Van Shura? While it's true we come from different backgrounds and different generations, Mary Esther has been one of my biggest mentors and friends since I started down my path to public service."
Lt. Gov. Davis and Governor Josh Shapiro with Mary Esther Van Shura.
Lt. Gov. Davis said what connects them is a shared commitment to “being voices for the voiceless and speaking out for those who’ve been forgotten or neglected.”
“I’ve learned so much from her and appreciate the time she invested in me when I was first getting involved in politics,” he said.
That kind of generosity is rare, says JHF’s chief aging officer Laura Poskin. “Mary Esther listens and extends kindness and respect to every person she meets. She takes time to get to know people, which is how she has her finger on the pulse of the challenges and opportunities we face. So many of us look to her as a role model and mentor for the kind of leadership we need right now.”
In many ways, mentorship is an extension of the teacher Dr. Van Shura has always been. She encourages young people to understand how the political process works and then use that knowledge to address the challenges facing their generation.
“If you dream, don’t ever take a no,” she tells them. “Don’t let anyone tell you no with respect to your dreams.”
