Anonymous donor gives $450,000 gift to NIU for scholarships

by Tom Parisi

A donor who wishes to remain anonymous but has long been impressed with the mission of NIU has made gifts totaling $450,000 to create a permanent endowed scholarship that will benefit undergraduate students for decades to come.

“This is NIU’s second largest endowed scholarship established by a living individual,” said Mallory M. Simpson, president of the NIU Foundation.

“At a time when many donors are focused on capital projects, it is particularly gratifying to receive this gift in support of NIU’s ongoing efforts to significantly increase endowment funds for student and faculty needs,” she said. “During the past several years, more than $3 million has been raised.”

Interest from the latest donation will be used to award scholarships covering tuition, books and/or fees to undergraduate students who already have at least 36 credit hours at NIU and are majoring in psychology, geography or computer science. Scholarship awards will be made on the basis of academic merit.

The donor is originally from Wisconsin but has been a resident of DeKalb for seven years. She did not attend the university. However, both her grandson and his wife are graduates of NIU, her granddaughter is a current student and her daughter-in-law holds a master’s degree from the university.

“NIU runs in the family,” the donor said. “My grandchildren have received a fine education. This gift represents our means of thanking and giving something back to a university community that has been so wonderfully helpful to family members as they have grown, matured and developed across significant periods of their lives. Our hope is that this gift will allow others to have similar growth experiences within this wonderful community.

“It also reflects the important role that we feel higher education plays in today’s world in helping to maintain a free and democratic society,” the donor added.

NIU President John Peters said the endowment will provide further incentive for already hard-working students because the awards will be based on academic merit.

“This generous gift recognizes the important work of our university, but the biggest beneficiaries will be our students,” Peters said. “It will provide them with incentive, recognize their academic accomplishments and reward those achievements. Many students will benefit from the donor’s generosity for years and years to come.”

The donor chose to award the scholarships to undergraduate students majoring in psychology, geography and computer science because her own family members achieved success in those areas of study.

“I greatly appreciate the role that Northern Illinois University plays within higher education with respect to the eclectic educational mission that the university strives to fulfill, both in terms of the wide range of quality educational programs offered and the clientele served,” the donor said.

The awards will be made on an annual basis to qualifying students in each of the three areas of study. The first scholarships likely will be awarded for the 2006-07 school year.

More information on details of the scholarship program will be available when the application process opens.

5-9-05