LaVerne D. Ramsey wants to share a life lesson: “Nothing will give you more joy than helping others—especially young people—in need,” she says. “It is our responsibility to do what is in our reach.”
The Birmingham resident’s passion for philanthropy recently helped recruit a top biomedical engineering student to UAB. Ramsey established the Bill and LaVerne Ramsey Endowed Scholarship, which includes the name of Ramsey’s late husband who died in 2012, as the first endowed scholarship in the Blazing the Way Scholarship Match Initiative.
These funds help UAB compete with other universities to recruit and retain the brightest students. They also will help ease the financial burden on students, enabling them to concentrate on their studies and begin their careers with less debt. The Bill and LaVerne Ramsey Endowed Scholarship provides support to UAB biomedical engineering students based on need and merit. The scholarship will renew automatically for three additional years, as long as the recipient is in good standing.
Scholarships like Ramsey’s also help the School of Engineering provide students with opportunities to engage in high-level research, in turn raising the visibility of UAB engineering programs nationally, says Dean J. Iwan Alexander, Ph.D. “A gift like this to an undergraduate program is tremendous,” Alexander says. “It represents an investment that will contribute to the long-term success of our Department of Biomedical Engineering.”
Ramsey hopes her gift will inspire others to create their own scholarships. “I am giving students the opportunity to afford a quality education every year,” she says. “And I’ll be able to see how their lives are transformed.”
You can also make a gift to UAB that can go twice as far and have a lasting impact on a student’s life. The Blazing the Way Scholarship Match Initiative provides plenty of opportunities to invest in the future of students and UAB. When you establish an annual scholarship, UAB will match your investment dollar-for-dollar. If you choose to build a named endowment, UAB will provide the spendable portion of the payout for five years to allow the scholarship to be awarded immediately while fulfilling the pledge.
Learn more about making a difference at the UAB School of Engineering through the Blazing the Way Scholarship Match Initiative at uab.edu/blazingtheway or by calling (205) 934-8481.
