An anonymous gift of $1.25 million will fund scholarships in math and science at Eastern Kentucky University.
The donor provided an immediate donation of $250,000, with the balance of $1 million part of an estate gift.
“This generous gift will provide opportunities and encourage students from some of the poorest counties of Kentucky to pursue their dreams of an education and career in STEM disciplines,” said Dr. Tom Otieno, interim dean of the College of Science at EKU. “As state support for higher education decreases and tuition costs increase nationwide, many talented students find themselves juggling rigorous laboratory-intensive curricula in the sciences and mathematics with a part-time or full-time job to make ends meet.
“By providing scholarship opportunities, we can open the door to many more talented students and help support them in being successful in the classroom, by allowing them to focus on academics and not finances.”
The scholarship, Otieno continued, “will allow us to demonstrate to prospective students that EKU and the College of Science are committed to helping students realize their aspirations, thereby helping us recruit additional talented students.
“We will forever be grateful to the donor for this generous gift.”
When the second phase of the University’s New Science Building opens later this year, Eastern will boast the largest such facility on any campus in the Commonwealth. The first phase opened in January 2012 and immediately resulted in increased student achievement and an increase in faculty collaboration and scholarship, among other pluses.
STEM-H degrees at EKU are up 26 percent over the past five years, with the number of freshmen enrolling in STEM disciplines up significantly. Eastern was named among the Top 125 STEM Colleges and Universities in the U.S. for 2015 by Victory Media.
To see a complete list of degree programs offered by the College of Science, visit science.eku.edu/degree-programs.
To make a gift to EKU, visit go.eku.edu/giving.