Summer 2007

Gates Scholarship Supports Students

The experiences enjoyed by Bill '72 and Susan '71 Gates during their days as Miami University students and eventually Miami parents were formative and very meaningful. Through a recent gift to establish the Bill and Susan Gates Scholarship, their continued support is ensuring that future Miami parents and students can share in those experiences.

"We feel that making an investment in Miami is a very sound decision that will help future generations of students get one of the best educations possible," said Bill.

Bill, the President of Gates Toyota in his hometown of South Bend, Ind., and Susan, one of three siblings to attend Miami from Xenia, Ohio, have designated their gift to support students from the state of Indiana who demonstrate a financial need. Bill hopes the added incentive of the scholarship will generate more interest for Miami in his home state.

"When I applied to Miami, most of my friends didn't know anything about the place," Bill said. "Susan and I want students from Indiana to be able to take advantage of all that Miami offers."

During their time as Miami students, Bill and Susan learned the importance of a good education and the value of a faculty that took a personal interest in their success. The stable, well-rounded education helped the couple through the tumultuous times of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s while also training them to think outside of the academic realm.

In 2001, Bill and Susan's son, Jeff, enrolled at Miami and brought the couple back in touch with alma mater. Along with experiencing Miami as parents, Bill and Susan served on the Parents Council, where they helped affect change in areas such as housing, alcohol and drug abuse, tuition, and minority student recruitment.

"When our son enrolled, we were thrilled that he would have the opportunity to experience life and academics in Oxford," Bill said. "Through our involvement with the Parents Council, we enjoyed getting an inside look at how Miami works."


. Back to the Giving Tribute Summer 2007

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COMMITMENT
UPDATE

Gifts received between Jan. 1, 2007, and March 31, 2007.

A number of major gifts and pledges highlighted another successful quarter in The Miami University Campaign For Love and Honor. Among the most generous commitments are the following:
bullet$1,750,000 from Lova Riekert '31 to support the Dillman Scholarship Fund for assisting students in need of financial support.
bullet $638,947 from Virginia Ann Todd '40 to provide a perpetual fund that will be used for scholarship support.
bullet $600,000 from Cornelia Polasky-Holt to endow the Parseghian-Pont-Kurz Football Scholarship.
bullet $523,038 from the Oliver & Peg Amos Foundation, Inc., to support the J. Oliver Amos Alumni Scholarship.

As of June 30, the campaign
had raised $274,437,905.

Please note: In the winter 2007 issue of Giving Tribute, the gift credited to James Naus should also be credited to Susan Naus '67.