The Rice Family Endowed Scholarship in Nursing has been established by Marsha Rice Scanlin ’74 to honor her grandfather, Earl Rice, and her father, Robert Rice. Scanlin saw both grandparents and her parents experience cancer, and she later became a two-time cancer survivor. The Rice Family Endowed Scholarship in Nursing has been endowed to support a nurse at the James Cancer Hospital who is a graduate student at Otterbein University.
Dr. Mary Ann Bradford Burnam H’19 and her husband, Paul, have established the Dr. Mary Ann Bradford Burnam H’19 and Paul Burnam Undergraduate Nursing Scholarship. Both Mary Ann and Paul made their careers in higher education, Mary Ann at Otterbein and Paul at academic libraries. They firmly believe that a strong undergraduate education helps prepare students for productive and successful lives and believe that Otterbein is the perfect place for undergraduate nursing students to learn, grow, and prepare for their next steps after graduation.
Childhood Memory Drives a Donor’s Passion
“When I was a poor boy delivering newspapers over 75 years ago, the newspaper printed this message every day on the editorial page:
‘ I shall pass this way but once, anything I can do or any kindness I can show let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again
– Anon.’
During my time as city manager of Westerville, Tom Kerr, president of Otterbein University, and I established a tremendous ‘town and gown’ relationship, which is so essential when the University had a big presence in the city. A few years ago, I was in a position to fulfill the above message that I had seen every day in the newspaper as a boy. Otterbein University, in my opinion, is a top-drawer college, one of the best in its class. One that all prospects considering higher education should put on the top of their list.”
– O.H. (Oz) Koeplin, Otterbein supporter and former City of Westerville Manager
$1 Million Gift Honors the Memory of Paul Dallas Taylor ’61
In February, JoAnn Taylor made a $1 million gift in memory of her late husband, Paul Dallas Taylor ’61. Paul was a lifelong learner and educator whose time at Otterbein — as a student and throughout his life as an alumnus — was deeply important to him. Paul dedicated his professional career to teaching at the college level in Minnesota and Texas. He and JoAnn always believed in investing in people to help them achieve their goals and dreams through higher education. The gift will support the Campus Center Renovation with a named space as well as an endowed fund for student success with the Otterbein READY program.
To learn if your company or organization matches charitable donations, please visit www.otterbein.edu/giving/how-to-give/matching-gift.
Ellen Andrews ’71 has generously supported Otterbein through funding for education majors. Andrews taught 41 years with the Elyria City Schools where she made a tremendous difference in the lives of her students. She is one of several in her family to attend Otterbein.
Former parents Dr. Roger and Betty Neff P’83, P’85 made an additional generous gift to support the Roger H. and Betty A. Neff Endowed Scholarship, established in 2005 to support undergraduate students pursuing international studies or studies that reflect a global perspective. Roger taught for 32 years at Otterbein, from 1961 to 1993, and served as the chair of the foreign language department for the last 20 years of his time on the faculty.
Board of Trustees member Deborah Ewell Currin ’67 and her husband, William A. Currin ’67, continue to generously support the Otterbein Fund through a recent unrestricted gift. In addition, their support was supplemented by a matching gift through William’s former employer.
John Bullis ’56, P’81, P’83, P’90 recently made a generous gift in honor and memory of his wife, Carole Kreider Bullis ’56, to support both the Otterbein Fund and the Bullis- Kreider Memorial Endowed Scholarship, which was established in 1996 to honor John’s parents, Cleo and John Bullis, and his late wife Carole’s parents, Margaret and Russell Kreider.
John E. Ellis ’87 was born into the world with a handicapped body but an indomitable spirit. At Otterbein, Ellis majored in radio and spent many happy hours honing his skills and teaching others at the Otterbein radio station. In his memory, his family has created the John Edward Ellis ’87 Family Endowed Scholarship to support an annual scholarship for students in communication who demonstrate a desire to develop their skills to overcome inequities and injustices and to make our world a better place for future generations. Additionally, a designated portion of the gift will be used to establish the John Edward Ellis ’87 Family Endowed Fund for Radio Communications, an endowment to support Otterbein radio communications.
Alumnus Daniel Gifford ’88, P’21 and his wife, Deanna, have fulfilled a $50,000 gift in support of the Campus Center Renovation. Daniel is part of the Gifford legacy family at Otterbein and currently serves on the Board of Trustees.
Alumnus Daniel Gifford ’88, P’21 and his wife, Deanna, have fulfilled a $50,000 gift in support of the Campus Center Renovation. Daniel is part of the Gifford legacy family at Otterbein and currently serves on the Board of Trustees.
To honor and celebrate the legacy of late professor David Jones, a group of alumni, led by a generous gift from Kyle Daniel ’04, have established the Dr. David C. Jones Memorial Scholarship. Jones taught marketing and related courses in the department of Business, Accounting, and Economics at Otterbein for 25 years. It is their hope that this scholarship continues his work of supporting and educating future generations of Otterbein students.
The Linda A. Karl Chandler ’70 Memorial Award has been created by its namesake, Linda Karl Chandler ’70, to provide internships for theatre arts students to pursue backstage or behind-the-camera work in theatre, cinema, or television. Chandler was heavily involved in theatre behind-the- scenes as an Otterbein student, and wished to honor all those who work tirelessly backstage through her gift.
Alumni couple Pamela Hudson Dominici ’68 and Robert J. Dominici ’67 made a generous $10,000 gift in support of the 1847 Minutes for Otterbein campaign during Homecoming and Family Weekend 2022, to encourage others to support the Otterbein Fund.
Grants, Corporate, and Foundation Support
Grants help to provide essential funding for new programs, research, and other areas that directly impact our students at Otterbein. Our faculty and staff have recently been awarded grants from several organizations, including:
Henry Luce Foundation
AMOUNT: $98,000
Otterbein’s Frank Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Columbus Museum of Art hold the largest known collections of art and artifacts by modern Chinese painter Wu Zhongxiong (1899- 1989), known as C.Y. Woo, who emigrated from Shanghai to central Ohio in 1964. In collaboration since 2018, these institutions have been establishing an open-source digital humanities database of the more than 1,770 objects held in Ohio C.Y. Woo collections. This grant supports painting conservation for the exhibition, photography for the exhibition catalogue and database, and undergraduate and graduate research staff for the next stages of database development.
Choose Ohio First Scholarship Support for Equine and Allied Health
AMOUNT: $462,621
Supports scholarships for Ohio students entering pre-veterinary studies, veterinary technician, or allied health majors at Otterbein University. These students will engage in cohort-based learning opportunities as well as work-based learning opportunities like internships with companies and businesses throughout central Ohio.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
AMOUNT: $377,800
Otterbein’s focus for its second grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is on building the community needed to bring lasting cultural and structural change by increasing University enrollment and retention of students who have been historically excluded from the sciences.
