Scholarship Donors Make An Immeasurable Contribution to the Lives of Generations of UMF Students

At UMF we are very sensitive to the fact that many of our potentially most talented students need help to pay for college. We want every qualified student to have the opportunity for the UMF college experience, as it is now and as it will become over time, without barriers created by price.

How well we succeed depends on you. I am counting on your understanding of what the Farmington experience meant for you to inspire you to help the next generations of Farmington students. We want to continue making a difference in people’s lives, and with your help, we will. You can provide support for exceptional students through a current gift to scholarship aid or create a legacy by endowing a scholarship.

- Theodora J. Kalikow, UMF president

Examples of Scholarship Endowment

Carrie E. Thurston, class of 1990, and her father, James A. Sherburne, recently established a generous scholarship endowment—the Dr. James A. and Helene B. Sherburne Scholarship. Their generous gift expresses their deep commitment to the importance of a UMF education and the opportunities that a college education makes possible. Carrie’s and Jim’s significant gift will make it possible for talented young adults to fulfill their dreams and their potential.

Ruth Webber McGary, a home economics graduate of 1950, shared her recipe for planned charitable giving at September's annual Donor Recognition luncheon. The main ingredient, explained McGary, is gratitude–and lots of it.

"People ask us how we can afford to make generous gifts. After all, we’re not wealthy,” McGary told an audience of more than 100 donors and scholarship recipients. "We are frugal. Our motto is 'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or go without.'" McGary explained that she and her husband, Carroll, (both first-generation college graduates) have been thrifty so that they can help others. And they have, by endowing the Ruth Webber McGary Class of 1950 Scholarship and establishing a deferred gift.

"As I approach my 80th birthday, I can't help but think about how I'd like to be remembered,” said McGary. “I like the thought that my name will be here at UMF forever and that perhaps some young UMFers will see it and think, 'That old grad must have really liked this place and thrived.'"

William Irwin of Ramsey, N.J., contributed a generous gift to endow the Charlotte M. Brett Irwin Memorial Scholarship, a tribute to his late wife, a member of the class of 1944. Charlotte was a long-time teacher with a deep commitment to the importance of education.

Inaugural Joan McDade (1978) Geology Field Study Fund Established

Sophomore geology major Anthony Greenlaw of Thorndike, Maine, was awarded the first Joan McDade (1978) Geology Field Study Fund Scholarship to support his participation in Geology of Newfoundland, a field-based on-site May Term course taught by Tom Eastler, professor of geology, and Doug Reusch, assistant professor of geology.

Adventure and field study were the hallmarks of McDade’s life, which was cut short by lung cancer on March 19, 2008. McDade served Wells Fargo as vice president and manager for community support programs.

While a geology/geography major at UMF, she assisted University of Florida Professor of Geology Michael Perfit with his dissertation field research in Alaska. She later worked as a cook aboard an Alaska-based crabbing boat, taught math and science in Alaska, hiked Mount Rainier and traveled to Australia and Ireland.

In November 2007, McDade returned to campus to bid Eastler and Bill Berry, professor emeritus of geology, farewell. She also met with Pat Carpenter ’82, director of gift planning, to establish a scholarship legacy, reflecting her passions for adventure and field study. Established with matching gifts from Wells Fargo and many memorial contributions, the Joan McDade (1978) Geology Field Study Fund scholarship will be awarded annually by UMF geology faculty to a student participating in a course-related geology field trip or summer-long geology field experience.

Pictured above from left to right: Tom Eastler, professor of geology, Theodora J. Kalikow, president, Christine Aronson, friend of Joan McDade, Anthony Greenlaw, scholarship recipient, and Michael Bell, '86.