A new scholarship, established by Ohio University President Duane Nellis and his wife, Ruthie, will soon be available to students in need, according to a university news release.
“As we consider our individual and collective responsibility to support our students’ personal, professional and scholarly growth, we must also consider the present moment and opportunity to chart a new path to redefine public higher education,” Nellis said during his inaugural address Oct. 18.
The M. Duane and C. Ruth Nellis Scholarship will be based on an endowment fund and will be available to undergraduate students of any major on the Athens campus who demonstrate “financial need and academic merit.”
The endowment funds will be invested permanently and will accumulate investment income over time. Portions of the endowment’s market value will be taken out annually and made available to undergraduate students as financial awards.
“Ruthie and I created this scholarship because we believe in the transformative power of an Ohio University education and we want to give more high-achieving students access to excellence,” Nellis said.
According to the release, the scholarship uses The OHIO Match Program, launched in 2013 to match 50 cents on each dollar donated to eligible Ohio University Foundation scholarship endowments. Nellis praised the program, calling it a “testament” to the priority OU places on its students.
Donors have contributed nearly $8.1 million to student scholarships through The OHIO Match program since its inception. The Nellis Scholarship is one of 146 new scholarship endowments created using the program, according to the release.
“We are so very grateful to President and First Lady Nellis for their generous gift, which will help future Bobcats access the transformational learning experience that is Ohio University,” interim Vice President of University Advancement and interim President and CEO of The OU Foundation Tom Davis said in a news release. “We are humbled by their demonstration of leadership and investment in OHIO’s future.”
