Written by Rylan Gray

A grassroots effort for a scholarship in honor of one of the co-founders of the School of Health Professions’ PhD in Administration Health Services program has quadrupled expectations.

The Dr. Richard Thompson Memorial Endowed Scholarship, initiated in January of 2022, began with a goal of $25,000. Today, the Thompson Scholarship has received tremendous support with numerous gifts and now surpasses $100,000 in gifts and pledges.

Richard Thompson co-founded the PhD in Administration-Health Services program in 1978, and he taught in UAB’s Health Services Administration Development program – which was the pre-curser to the Department of Health Services Administration’s Executive M.S. in Health Administration program.

“Dick Thompson’s legacy is not only as a visionary leader, but as someone who inspired colleagues, students, administrators, and many others during his time at UAB,” said Andrew Butler, dean, UAB School of Health Professions. “The level that his scholarship has increased, in a very short period of time, is a testimony to the lasting impact Dick had and the role he played at our School and at UAB.”

The Thompson Endowed Scholarship will be awarded in perpetuity to masters or doctoral students in the Department of Health Services at UAB. The students in each of these programs develop an interdisciplinary foundation based on the active involvement of faculty members who are nationally recognized scholars in their field from a variety of industry disciplines.