Penn College Board Chairman, Wife Establish Scholarship
Published 01.12.2004
Dr. Robert E. Dunham, chairman of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Board of Directors, and his wife, Maureen, have established a scholarship to be awarded annually at the College.
Preference for the scholarship award will be given to students who are enrolled full-time in a bachelor-degree program (third year or greater) who demonstrate financial need and academic quality. Preference also will be given to students who have graduated with an associate's degree and are enrolled as third-year bachelor-degree students. Continuing students will be given preference in subsequent years.
Typically, the award will be split between the fall and spring semesters at Penn College.
Dr. Dunham has been chairman of the Penn College Board since 1997. He has a long and distinguished career in higher education, retiring in 1998 from The Pennsylvania State University as senior vice president and dean of the Commonwealth Education System. Penn State recognized him recently by naming a graduate-student residence hall in his honor.
During his tenure as Board chairman at Penn College, Dr. Dunham has provided leadership for the construction of a new main entrance, the Student and Administrative Services Center and the Rose Street Apartments student-housing complex, as well as the acquisition and renovation of College Avenue Labs, a former manufacturing facility that was converted to state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory space.
Maureen Dunham is a retired elementary public school teacher, having taught for 28 years in Pomona, Calif.; Ventura, Calif.; West Lafayette, Ind.; and the State College area. She helped found and administers a nontuition Friendship Tutoring Program for needy elementary-school students in State College, now in its fifth year.
"We are very fond of Penn College and its very unique mission. We are delighted to be able to help some financially needy students remain in school and graduate," the Dunhams said.
"The Penn College community is very fortunate to have the interest and support of the Dunhams," said Barry R. Stiger, vice president for institutional advancement at Penn College. "The Robert and Maureen Dunham Scholarship will assist Penn College students in meeting the financial challenges of their continuing education."