Janssen to Give Gaddis Lecture

The 2025 Gaddis Memorial Lecture on the campus of Central Methodist University is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8, and will feature 2012 Central graduate Lauran Janssen speaking on “Project Manage My Life: The Importance of Prioritizing.” The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in the Inman Lecture Hall (Stedman 200).

Janssen is the project management lead at Woodruff Communications, a full-service marketing agency located in Columbia and Kansas City. Before joining Woodruff in 2019, she was the communications coordinator for the Missouri United Methodist Foundation for seven years.

Janssen, a 2012 alumna of CMU, majored in communication and minored in marketing and business. While at CMU she was involved in Sigma Pi Alpha, spirit squad, Greek council, newspaper, and radio. As a senior, she was the 2012 recipient of the Communication Department Student Media Award. Janssen currently lives in Columbia with her husband, Chris – a 2009 graduate of CMU & 2018 Gaddis Lecture speaker – and their two daughters, Evelyn and Elaina.

The Merrill E. Gaddis Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Kappa Chapter of Pi Gamma Mu, an international honor society for the social sciences. The lecture, established in 1984, honors the memory of Dr. Merrill Elmer Gaddis (1891-1958), who founded the Kappa Chapter at Central College in 1935 and later served as regional chancellor of the honorary society.

Gaddis, who earned a doctor of philosophy degree in history from the University of Chicago, joined the Central College faculty in 1929. A renowned lecturer, he was a professor of history and later chair of Central’s department of history and political science until his death.

Members of Pi Gamma Mu choose the Gaddis Lecturer from persons suggested by Central Methodist social sciences faculty and other members of the University community, including alumni.

Funding for this lecture is provided from funding from Pi Gamma Mu.