If you ask George Creel why he supports Christendom, the answer is very simple.

“I see Christendom as a catalytic converter for the evangelization of true Catholicism,” says Creel.

Such a scientific metaphor comes naturally to Creel, who has had a long and accomplished career with Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE). As a young man, he attended Johns Hopkins University and received a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in mechanical engineering. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, first on active duty and then in active re-serve for 10 years, before being discharged as a captain. Creel worked his way up at BGE, from a junior engineer to leading the company’s nuclear and fossil energy divisions, all the way through serving as executive vice president.

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Although he spent his career working in a scientific field, Creel is a firm believer in both Christendom’s specific mission and the importance of a liberal arts education generally. He first learned about the college in the nineties while serving on the board of the Catholic Charities of Baltimore. One of Creel’s fellow board members, Tom Baldwin, was an early trustee at Christendom. Baldwin introduced Creel to the college and its mission.

Creel began reading some books by Christendom founder Dr. Warren Carroll. He was impressed with Christendom’s faithfulness to the Magisterium and its dedication to the pursuit of truth. In a world where many Catholic institutions of higher learning struggle to retain their Catholic identity, Christendom stood out to Creel as a place that truly lived and breathed the faith.

“I see Christendom College as a true Catholic liberal arts college,” he explains.

Creel has been a financial supporter of Christendom over the years ever since first discovering it. Recently, however, he decided to make a larger gift, a scholarship endowment fund, in honor of his late wife, Marian, who passed away in February of 2020.

At first, since both Marian and his oldest daughter were nurses, he considered a scholarship related specifically to the sciences. After much thought and prayer, however, Creel ultimately opted to make an impact that specifically benefits students and Christendom’s mission to restore all things in Christ.

“I thought that if I really wanted to support the college as a catalytic converter for evangelization, I wouldn’t put any limits on it,” he says. “So, I just decided to make it a straight scholarship for students based on need and merit.”

Creel also supports the kind of education Christendom offers because he saw firsthand the difference that a liberal arts graduate can make. While he was a student at Johns Hopkins, he knew many people who studied the liberal arts, and he saw how those studies benefited them.

As he advanced in his career and took on managerial and then executive roles, he noticed that many of the problems he’d encounter had to do with people and behavioral issues. As an employer, he realized that hiring liberal-arts-educated workers made a positive difference. He also knew others who thought the same. Dana P. Robertson, chairman of the National Catholic Community Foundation, affirmed Creel’s belief that liberal arts schools, and Christendom in particular, are worth supporting.

“Dana had been an executive in a financial firm, and he had seen so many good people over the years who’d come out of college with a good liberal arts education,” Creel says.

Now, thanks to the Marian Creel Memorial Scholarship Endowment, more students will have the opportunity to receive the rich benefits of an authentically Catholic liberal arts education and formation at Christendom. They will become true “catalytic converters” of the new evangelization, a dream come true for Creel.

For more information on giving to Christendom, visit christendom.edu/give.