Scholarships & Grants

Ruth Earline Taylor Allen Scholarship
The late Col. Arthur C. Allen (Ret.) of Kansas City, Mo., established the Allen scholarship in honor of his beloved late wife and Mizzou alumna, Ruth Earline Taylor Allen (AB ’45 French, M.Ed. ’48). Mrs. Allen was a student at the University in the 1940s, earning degrees in both the College of Arts and Science and in the College of Education. Mrs. Allen, elected to Phi Beta Kappa, was also a member of the Romance Language department’s Honorary Romance Society. After her graduation, she worked as an administrative assistant in the office of public information.

Their story together at Mizzou goes back to the 1950s, when then Capt. Allen came to Columbia to teach ROTC classes. The two met and were soon married on campus at the Chi Omega house. (Mrs. Allen was a former Chi-O president.)

The Ruth Earline Taylor Allen Scholarships are awarded to full-time students in the College of Arts and Science, with preference given to Missouri residents. The first scholarship award was presented in February 1991. Thanks to Col. Allen’s generosity, the Allen scholarship fund is currently the largest endowed scholarship fund in the College.

Arts and Science Development and Arts and Science Leaders Scholarships
By their generosity, alumni and friends of the College of Arts and Science recognize A&S students whose work in and out of the classroom demonstrates sustained excellence and hard work. Upperclass students who enjoy the respect of faculty both in and outside the departments in which they are majoring are recommended for these awards.

Arts and Science Quadrangle Award
“To me this is a gesture of appreciation to the University of Missouri for all that she has given me — a debt that I can never fully repay.”

With these words, an alumna of the College of Arts and Science, who has requested anonymity, established what are today named the Quadrangle Awards, given yearly to juniors or seniors “who display unusual integrity, intellectual promise and social concern.” Special attention is to be given “to students who are excelling in the liberal arts and sciences, which are the core disciplines of an undergraduate education.”

The donor graduated from MU in the early part of the 20th century. At the time, she was one of relatively few women who attended MU. She lived most of her adult life in the east, where her husband (not an MU alumnus) served with distinction in the United Nations. Following his death (in the same airplane crash that killed Dag Hammarskjöld), she moved to the Boston area, where she lived, in the company of many friends, until her death in the late 1990s.

Glen S. Baker Undergraduate Scholarship
Glen Baker was born on a farm outside Libertyville, Mo., in 1903. His family raised quarterhorses, which were in great demand, and did reasonably well. The Model T Ford, however, changed all that. The family lost their farm and moved to the nearby city of Farmington, where Baker’s father took a job as an attendant at what was then called a filling station. He died a few years later, when Baker was still in high school. No one from Baker’s family had ever attended college, but his mother was determined that he do so. She took in laundry and sewing in order to make that possible. He graduated from MU with a degree in business administration in 1926.

Baker often said that he learned three things at the University: how to make bathtub gin, how to play pitch and self-confidence. His four years in Columbia also gave Baker what he regarded as his greatest gift. He met and fell in love with Sylvia Lee Davis, a student at Stephens College. He and Sylvia embarked upon a marriage that lasted more than 60 years.

Awards are made to transfer students who demonstrate financial need.

Blackburn-Hesemann Scholarship
Frances McAnally Blackburn and Wilhelmina Hesemann, grandmothers of Professors Jim Carrel and Jan Weaver, were the hearts of their families — hardworking and firm, but also kind and generous women, loved The College of Arts and Science College-Wide Scholarships passionately by their children and grandchildren. The Blackburn-Hesemann scholarship is in memory of these remarkable women and is a testament to the surviving impact they have made on their grandchildren.

This scholarship is given to a student who excels in the biological sciences or related fields, who maintains a 3.0 gpa or higher, and who is pursuing a career in the life sciences or medicine. It is given with preference to African-Americans or historically underprivileged minorities, those who exhibit financial need and who attended high school in Boone County, Mo.

Harryette J. Campbell Scholarship
Although it was a financial struggle for her parents, Harryette Campbell enrolled at MU as a transfer student. With the support of her parents, Harryette became the first member of her family to obtain a university degree.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English, she returned to Sikeston, Mo., to join the family business, where she worked for her entire career. Although she did not become the writer she had dreamed of being, she values her education and knows how a liberal arts education enriches the quality of life. In gratitude for the blessings she has received in life, she has established this scholarship so that students who need financial help will have the necessary assistance to attend the University of Missouri and fulfill their dream of a university degree.

Academic excellence is an important consideration for an award, but students who have faced educational challenges, who have shown consistent academic improvement and who can demonstrate financial need are eligible.

Ada Mae Clough Scholarship for Premedical Students
This award was established by family and friends of Ada Mae Clough to allow scholarship support for one or more premed students with “demonstrated financial need”.

The Forty-Niner Scholarship
Members of the Arts and Science Class of 1949 (the first graduating class following the end of World War II) established a scholarship fund in gratitude for the opportunity to attend and graduate from college without the interruptions caused by the war. It is their hope that subsequent students will benefit from the opportunity to further their education.

Thomas B. Harris Award
Thomas B. Harris (1923–1992) was born in and attended public schools in Florida. He enrolled at MU in 1941 (a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and of Mystical Seven), from which he eventually received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. His education was interrupted by service in the U.S. Army (in Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan). He joined the staff of the Arts and Science dean’s office in 1954 and served in various capacities until 1987 when he was appointed chief adviser for the health professions, a position he held until his retirement in 1988. The scholarship memorializes the many contributions to A&S undergraduates that Tom Harris made over the years.

Lonald Hambley Scholarship
Lonald B. Hambley received a bachelor’s in sociology in 1972. Shortly after his death, his family established a memorial scholarship that recognizes their son’s special interest in the humanities and fine arts, the central criterion in the awarding of this scholarship. While the recipients are ordinarily majoring in one or more of the humanities or fine arts departments, that in and of itself is not a criterion for selection.

Anne E. Hayden Honors Scholarship
Anne E. Hayden earned a bachelor’s degree in English with honors from MU in 1969. During her 30-year career with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York City, she became well known and respected in the field of human resources management. She retired as senior vice president for corporate human resources. Her scholarship is given to outstanding students enrolled in the College of Arts and Science who are taking advantage of programs offered by the Honors College.

Ralph K. and Maxine J. Hibbs Scholarship
Some of the Arts and Science scholarships are awarded out of trusts established by alumni and friends now deceased and about whom it is impossible to ascertain biographical information. The little information about the Hibbs’ intent is that their goal was to encourage students majoring in the liberal arts. The A&S scholarship committee has interpreted this broadly, so that all majors offered by the College may be considered for the Hibbs awards. However, financial need must be demonstrated.

Winifred Bryan Horner Scholarship
Winifred Bryan Horner’s teaching career at MU included pioneering scholarly work in the field of rhetoric and composition and sustained excellent teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her national reputation in the field of rhetoric and composition led to service as the initial chair of the Campus Writing Board, the faculty that established the operating guidelines of the Campus Writing Program. Dr. Horner received a master’s in English in 1961 from MU and was the recipient of an Arts and Science Distinguished Alumna Award in 1996.

Her own education began relatively late, while she was raising her children. Her support of those who pursue their degrees while simultaneously handling many other responsibilities — often by themselves — led her to establish this scholarship, which recognizes “non-traditional” students.

William Kemp Scholarship
A distinguished attorney and judge for many years in the Kansas City metropolitan area, William Kemp received an undergraduate degree in political science and a JD from MU. Late in life, he reflected on his undergraduate work at MU and singled out his studies in language and literature as most important in his intellectual and personal development.

His will established an endowed scholarship program that allows the college each year to recognize excellence of juniors or seniors in the study of language and literature.

John M. Kuhlman Scholarship
John Kuhlman was a fixture in the Department of Economics and in the Honors College for many years. In addition to 40 years in the classroom, he coordinated the largest departmental honors program on the MU campus.

In a letter to other former students of Kuhlman’s, Sonja Steptoe (BA, BJ ’88) recalls: “Remember that open office door at the end of the hall on the second floor of Middlebush? Remember the man inside? How could you forget him? He was the undergraduate’s best friend. His fatherly advice made us feel good, and his glowing letters of recommendation made us look good. A master of the Socratic method who taught us to think, question and analyze; who infused every session [of his classes] with energy and excitement; who taught us to pronounce Ceteris paribus and made us eager to unravel the mysteries of national income accounting and antitrust policy. Though he retired in 1985, Professor John Kuhlman remains one of the finest academicians and greatest teachers ever to stroll the University of Missouri campus. His legacy is as enduring as the columns in the Francis Quadrangle.”

Friends, colleagues and former students of Kuhlman established the scholarship fund in his honor upon the occasion of his retirement. The Kuhlman scholarship is given to a junior or senior in the College of Arts and Science who has a record of extra curricular contribution to A&S and of excellent academic success.

Nancy and Bill Laurie Scholarship
A portion of Nancy and Bill Laurie’s gift that enabled the basketball arena (Mizzou Arena) established an endowment intended to enhance and provide general academic scholarship support to many MU schools and colleges, including Arts and Science. A student’s overall academic record is the central criterion in the award, which must be approved by the Office of Student Financial Aid.

E.W. Mares and Kenneth R. Mares Scholarship and Academic Award
An alumnus of the Department of Chemistry, Ken Mares has been a member of the faculty at UMSL for many years. Among his many professional activities are the successful efforts at encouraging high-school students to begin careful work in the sciences through alliances with St. Louis universities and industries. The Mares scholarship allows the College to honor one or more undergraduates who are pursuing degrees in the physical sciences.

Adam Popejoy Memorial Scholarship
Adam Thomas Popejoy was killed in a traffic accident on December 27, 2002, at the age of 16. An endowment was created through the gifts of family, friends and total strangers.

In the words of his parents, “Adam was a scholar and thought The Odyssey was awesome and Beowulf was the best book he had read. He was an athlete who loved to run. He played for two soccer teams…[and] was a Boy Scout. He loved music and taught himself to play guitar. He was an artist. He had the gift for creating beauty. His artistic talent gave him satisfaction and joy.”

Awards are made to graduates of Rock Bridge High School or Hickman High School in Columbia, Mo., who plan to study visual or performing arts, either vocal or instrumental.

Allan W. and Vivian C. Purdy Scholarship
Allan Purdy is a former director of financial aid for the University of Missouri System, and an acknowledged “mover and shaker” in the national financial aid movement. The Purdys are a longtime Missouri family with strong ties to MU. Their scholarship honors students in the fine arts who exhibit initiative and integrity and have demonstrated a financial need.

James S. Rollins Scholarship
One of the founding “fathers” of the University, James S. Rollins’ name is memorialized in many ways on the MU campus and in Columbia. The Rollins scholarships, administered by the Office of Student Financial Aid, are given each year to juniors and seniors who excel in their studies.

Willis V. Shepard Memorial Scholarship
This fund was established by Gladys “Pat” Shepard in memory of her husband, Willis V. Shepard, of Kansas City, Mo., who graduated from Arts and Science with a bachelors of arts degree in 1925. One or more awards is made to full-time students in the College of Arts and Science. Outstanding work in and out of the classroom is the primary criterion for selecting the Shephard Scholars.

Thomas T. Strange Scholarship
A native of Boone County, Mo., Strange practiced law in Columbia for 45 years following his graduation from the MU School of Law in 1936. Established by the Thomas T. Strange Unitrust to provide scholarships or fellowships to promising students in the field of ecology, the scholarship memorializes an early advocate for the study of ecology by both A&S and non-A&S students.

Armon F. Yanders Scholarship
Armon Frederick Yanders served as dean of the College of Arts and Science from 1969 to 1982. More than 100 friends and colleagues established the Yanders Scholarship Fund upon the occasion of his retirement. During the announcement of the award fund, a student leader who helped coordinate the effort said: “I’m guessing that somewhere…there’s a child who will grow up someday and come to the University of Missouri to get a liberal education. This student will work very hard and will distinguish himself or herself so as to gain the respect and admiration of all who know her. One day, an honor committee will award this student with a scholarship, named after a man who was dean of Arts and Science a long time ago. Thus, the legacy of Armon Yanders will continue. And you, sir, will have touched yet another life.”

The Yanders scholarship is given to a junior in the College of Arts and Science with a record of extra curricular contribution to the College in addition to good academic standing.