Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: EMILY ROGERS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Radford University's nursing program will get a fiscal shot in the arm with a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor, university officials announced Monday.
The university plans to use the donation to help students such as senior Deborah Craig of Roanoke.
"Money to help nursing students get an education has really dried up in the last few years due to supply and demand," Craig said. "It seems everyone is downsizing."
The gift will help nursing students in two ways: It will provide scholarships for students interested in working in the geriatric field, and the administration will establish the Richard Kent Hough Scholarship Endowment for nursing majors in the Waldron College of Nursing and Health Services.
Hough, a photographer, was a relative of Karen Waldron, director of the college's board of visitors.
Charles Owens, vice president of academic affairs, said the funds will promote student efforts and faculty research in gerontology.
The money also will help the university set up the Center for Applied Health Research. The center's focus initially will be gerontology but may broaden in the future.
Administrators are searching for a director for the center.
The gift's benefits are not limited to nursing students, Owens said: The psychology and sociology departments will have use of the center, and other Waldron College students will use the center in such areas as nutrition, communication sciences and disorders, and leisure studies.
Charles Wood, vice president for university advancement, said he hopes "this overwhelming generosity" will allow the university to provide a quality education.
The last time the university received a grant of this size was in 1993. That gift also went to Waldron College.
The university increasingly counts on donations and creative fiscal management as the state continues to call for budget cuts.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.