Rosa Moore Dunning Endowed Scholarship Established

Through their $25,000 gift and $500,000 estate pledge, Rosa and Art Dunning have established the Rosa Moore Dunning Endowed Scholarship in Communicative Disorders in the College of Arts and Sciences. “The Dunnings’ gift is a legacy of promise for our future students who deserve to see firsthand how college is meant to be,” said Robert F. Olin, dean of the College. “The Dunnings are passing on the opportunity for an education and the possibility of a brighter future.”

Art Dunning has named the gift to honor his wife, Rosa Dunning.  Priority of consideration for the scholarship will be given to full-time undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Communicative Disorders who graduate from high schools in Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Lowndes, or Wilcox Counties in Alabama and who demonstrate financial need. The communicative disorders field is expected to experience significant growth in the next 20 years and the Dunnings want to help prepare students to meet this growth.

Rosa Dunning, who grew up in Montgomery, graduated from The University of Alabama with a bachelor of arts degree in communicative disorders and a master of arts degree in speech communication. She has spent more than 30 years working with adults and children who have special needs, as well as in standard education. Her last 10 years have been with the Gwinnett County School System in Georgia.

Though he started out in the small community of Sweetwater, near Linden, Alabama, Art Dunning's career path took him around the world as an administrator in public education. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology, a master of arts degree in education, and a doctorate in education administration with an emphasis in higher education, all from the Capstone. He currently serves as vice president of public service and outreach at The University of Georgia.

Dance Scholarship Honors Gage Bush Englund

A dance scholarship has been established in honor of Birmingham native and longtime Fairhope resident Gage Bush Englund.

The American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Summer Intensive program has contributed $20,000 to establish the Gage Bush Englund Endowed Scholarship. ABT endowed the scholarship at The University of Alabama to honor Englund’s role in establishing this renowned summer dance program. Priority will be given to full-time undergraduate students majoring in dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Norvin Richards Award in Philosophy and the Law Established

By means of a gift annuity, the late Thelma Richards established an endowment of $52,000 in honor of her son, Norvin Richards, professor and former chair of the Department of Philosophy. The gift is named the Norvin Richards Philosophy Endowed Support Fund.

The endowment earnings from this fund will be used to establish the Norvin Richards Award in Philosophy and the Law.

Eligibility for the award is restricted to majors in philosophy who intend to pursue a career in law. At the outset, no more than two such awards will be made annually. Recipients will receive equal shares of that year’s endowment income. Selection of award recipients will be made on the basis of students’ performance in four or more of the following courses: philosophy of law; philosophical issues in civil, criminal, and constitutional law; deductive logic or honors deductive logic; political philosophy; or other courses approved by the award committee. The names of the recipients will later be engraved on a commemorative plaque, which will be publicly displayed by the Department of Philosophy.

Thelma Richards was born in Leigh, Nebraska, on January 18, 1913. She had two children, two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She died on December 29, 2005.

Norvin Richards, of Tuscaloosa, received his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1965. He received master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from the University of Virginia in  1967 and 1969 respectively. He was also a research student at King’s College, University of Cambridge, working under the supervision of Bernard Williams. Richards has taught at the College for 36 years.

Phillip C. Watkins Honors Wife, Elizabeth, with Scholarship

Phillip C. Watkins, of Birmingham, has established The Elizabeth Dean Watkins-Blount Undergraduate Initiative Endowed Scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is creating the scholarship in memory of his late wife, Elizabeth Dean Watkins.

Phillip Watkins received his bachelor of science degree from the College in 1963 and his doctor of medicine from The University of Alabama Medical School in 1966. He is a cardiologist in private practice in Birmingham.  He is also a member of the President’s Cabinet at UA.

Elizabeth Dean Watkins received her bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Auburn University in 1963. She lived in Birmingham for the majority of her life and was a dedicated member of Covenant Presbyterian Church, as well as an avid gardener. She died on October 26, 2005.

In 1999, Watkins honored his wife with a gift to the Blount Initiative to name the Elizabeth Dean Watkins room in Oliver-Barnard Hall, one of two academic houses in the Initiative.  Known as “Lizzie’s Lounge,” the room is a popular place where Blount students study.  Recently, the Watkins family unveiled a portrait of Elizabeth Watkins that now hangs in the room.  The unveiling enabled the family and close friends, some of whom had never been there before, to see the dedicated lounge and portrait and for Dr. Watkins to announce the scholarship in memory of his wife.  

Edward O’Neil and Gayle Saldinger Establish Support Fund

Edward O’Neil and Gayle Saldinger, of Alameda, California, have contributed $10,000 to establish the Slosberg and O’Neil Endowed Student Support Fund in New College.
The fund honors the memories of Gayle Saldinger’s grandmother Irene Slosberg and Edward O’Neil’s parents, Edward and Inez O’Neil.

It will be used to promote the education of students pursuing degrees through New College. Uses of the contribution may include funding students’ expenses associated with educational travel, conference attendance, service activities, research, and other learning endeavors.

O’Neil received a bachelor of arts degree in history from the College in 1974, his master of arts degree in American studies from the College in 1975, and his master of public administration and doctor of philosophy degrees in history from Syracuse University in 1982 and 1984, respectively. He is a professor of medicine, nursing, and dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco, and president of Health Workforce Solutions, a health-care research and training institute.

Saldinger received a bachelor of arts degrees in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979 and an MBA from Yale University in 1984.

Elizabeth Crump Creates Tribute to Grandmother

Elizabeth Crump of Montgomery has made a gift to create the Elizabeth B. Bashinsky Endowed Art Scholarship in honor of her maternal grandmother. Her gift of $17,180 will be matched by the Windgate Charitable Foundation of Arkansas.

Bashinsky was born in 1867 in Dixon Springs, Tennessee. After graduating with honors from Columbia Institute in Tennessee, she moved to Troy, Alabama, where she was an elementary school teacher. She later married Leopold M. Bashinsky. They had three children, Helen, Leo and Mary Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth Bashinsky was dedicated to education through service to students and scholarship programs. For her lifetime of service, she was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame and was awarded the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award by both The University of Alabama and Judson College.

Crump received her bachelor of arts degree in English from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1959. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and is currently the secretary and treasurer of Dixie Electric Company in Montgomery.

Farley Moody Galbraith Art Scholarship Established

Through her $51,000 gift, UA alumna Farley Moody Galbraith of Anniston, Alabama, has established The Farley Moody Galbraith Endowed Art Scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Selection priority will be given to students who are enrolled in the Department of Art in the College and who are pursuing degrees with concentrations in ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, or painting. 

Galbraith earned a bachelor of arts degree in history in the College in 1941. She was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Frank M. and Sarah McCorkle Moody.  She married the late Wilfred Galbraith, with whom she had two children, George Lock Galbraith and Farley Moody Galbraith II. 

The Moody and Galbraith families have been longtime patrons of the arts and loyal supporters of The University of Alabama.  Farley Moody Galbraith has been fundamental to the long-term success of the Moody Gallery through her generous funding of the Farley Moody Galbraith Endowed Exhibition Fund, which has aided in attracting numerous nationally acclaimed artists to Alabama for lectures and exhibitions.  

Stephen and Beverly Davis Establish Endowed Program Support Fund

University of Alabama graduates Stephen Alvin and Beverly Crawford Davis have established a support fund for the Department of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Support funds, which may be established for units of the College with a minimum of $10,000, provide for faculty academic needs, including travel, conference fees, scholarships, and special equipment purchases.

The Mobile, Alabama, residents are both graduates of the College.
Stephen Davis earned bachelor of science degree in chemistry in 1968 and a doctor of medicine degree in 1972 from The University of Alabama School of Medicine. He is a doctor with the Diagnostic Physicians Group in Mobile.

Beverly Davis received a bachelor of arts degree in English from UA in 1967 and a master of arts degree in English from Louisiana State University in 1969. A member of the College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Board, she is an English teacher emeritus at Saint Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile where she now serves as golf coach.

Chris Hainsey Remembered with Memorial Scholarship

An endowed scholarship has been established in the name of Chris Hainsey, a student member of the Million Dollar Band, who, after a long battle with cancer, passed away in the fall of 2005. Hainsey’s parents, Brenda and Mike Hainsey, of Columbus, Mississippi, and his aunt and uncle Carol and Dennis Hainsey made a gift of $20,000 to establish the scholarship.

Hainsey, who majored in secondary education with an emphasis in music in the College of Education, was from Columbus, Mississippi. He was a member of the Million Dollar Band from 2003 to 2005. Fellow students and teachers have attested that even when engaging the adversity of cancer, Chris persisted in doing his dutiful best and never once asked for special consideration. The Chris Hainsey Memorial Scholarship will honor his outstanding work ethic as well as his commitment to the Million Dollar Band by providing a scholarship and the annual “Chris Hainsey Ultimate Team Player” award to a Million Dollar Band member who best represents the contributions Chris made to the band.

Department of Chemistry Receives $12,000 Anonymous Pledge

An anonymous benefactor has given $12,000 to recognize the contributions of Anthony J. Arduengo III, Saxon Professor of Chemistry in the College, and to promote academic excellence in the Department of Chemistry.

The gift will be used to establish and support a visiting lecture series that addresses a topic of relevance and importance to the area of physical organic chemistry. The intent of the lectures is to recognize contributions in these areas at UA. The Arduengo lectures will be held at least every other year. The donor’s goal is to support the expense of hosting multiple speakers in a mini-symposium format in a targeted chemistry area.

Robert H. Meier Honors Wife

The late Robert H. Meier of Victor, Idaho, provided an estate gift in memory of his wife to establish the Bettye L. Kerr Meier Endowed Student Support Fund in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education. He pledged $11,000 before his death in to support academic excellence in both colleges.

Half the endowment earnings will be used to provide academic support to female undergraduate students enrolled in the School of Music, with preference given to members of The University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band.

Bettye L. Kerr Meier was a 1948 graduate of the College of Education at UA and a member of the Million Dollar Band.

Phillip C. Watkins Honors Wife, Elizabeth, with Scholarship

Phillip C. Watkins, of Birmingham, has established The Elizabeth Dean Watkins-Blount Undergraduate Initiative Endowed Scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is creating the scholarship in memory of his late wife, Elizabeth Dean Watkins.

Phillip Watkins received his bachelor of science degree from the College in 1963 and his doctor of medicine from The University of Alabama Medical School in 1966. He is a cardiologist in private practice in Birmingham.  He is also a member of the President’s Cabinet at UA.

Elizabeth Dean Watkins received her bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Auburn University in 1963. She lived in Birmingham for the majority of her life and was a dedicated member of Covenant Presbyterian Church, as well as an avid gardener. She died on October 26, 2005.

In 1999, Watkins honored his wife with a gift to the Blount Initiative to name the Elizabeth Dean Watkins room in Oliver-Barnard Hall, one of two academic houses in the Initiative.  Known as “Lizzie’s Lounge,” the room is a popular place where Blount students study.  Recently, the Watkins family unveiled a portrait of Elizabeth Watkins that now hangs in the room.  The unveiling enabled the family and close friends, some of whom had never been there before, to see the dedicated lounge and portrait and for Dr. Watkins to announce the scholarship in memory of his wife.  

Dance Scholarship Honors Edie Barnes 

The American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Summer Intensive program at The University of Alabama has established the Edith Barnes Endowed Scholarship with a $20,000 gift to the University.  ABT endowed the scholarship to pay tribute to Barnes’s role in promoting the education of students in the dance program, part of the Department of Theatre and Dance in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. 
Priority will be given to full-time undergraduate students majoring in dance. 
Barnes served as director of the College’s dance program from 1987 to 2005. During her 18 years of leadership, she shaped the program into a respected academic training ground for professional dancers and brought nationally renowned professionals to campus to teach in the program.
“I have a tremendous respect for what Barnes has done as well as a great respect for the breadth of the dance program and the excellent work of dancers here,” said Gage Bush Englund, ballet mistress of the ABT. “Barnes was indispensable in creating the pilot UA American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive program, and her work here has been an example to other ABT intensive programs begun around the country because of her.”

Havard Family Honors Relative With Endowed Scholarship

Everett S. and F. Dianne Havard Jr. of Pensacola, FL have established the E.S. Havard Family Endowed Scholarship to honor Everett Havard's father.

The scholarship will provide support to incoming freshmen students enrolled full-time in the College. The scholarship may be renewed for subsequent years provided a student maintains a minimum "B" grade average and remains enrolled full-time in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Everett S. Havard, Sr. was born in 1911 in Perdido, AL. He attended and played football at Escambia High School. As a young man interested in photography and film, he earned money showing movies in rural areas and later purchased a movie theatre in Bay Minette, AL. He married Bennie Elizabeth Stuart who was from Bay Minette.

After World War II , Havard opened his own business, Havard's Film Library, which rented, sold and repaired 16mm films and equipment. He had four children, all of whom attended and graduated from the University of Alabama. Everett passed away in 1963.

Everett Havard Jr., received his bachelor of science degree in biological sciences from the The University of Alabama in 1956, and his doctor of medicine degree from Tulane University Medical School. He worked for many years at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, and is presently retired.

Family and Friends Create Tribute to Wallace C. Johnson

The Wallace C. Johnson Endowed Geological Sciences Support Fund has been established to honor University of Alabama supporter Wallace C. Johnson.  Family and friends of Johnson have contributed $11,470, including matching gifts, to create the fund. 
The fund will provide awards to promising students enrolled full-time in the Department of Geological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.  Priority will be given to the funding of field-based learning and research by undergraduate students.  It will also support geological field courses and independent research studies. 
Johnson was born in 1927 in Chattanooga, Tenn.  He moved to Tuscaloosa as a young man and graduated from Holt High School.  He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and spent much of his life serving the community through his work with the Methodist Youth Fellowship Program of Alberta United Methodist Church.  Although he did not attend The University of Alabama, Johnson was instrumental in supporting many University of Alabama students through mentorship, spiritual guidance and financial assistance for over 50 years.