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Released January 15, 2003
Smallwood-McNeel Scholarship established at MUW
COLUMBUS, Miss. -- The children of Mississippi University for Women
alumna Betty Smallwood McNeel recently made a $10,000 contribution from
their family trust to establish a scholarship in her memory at her alma
mater.
Richard McNeel said he and his brother, David McNeel, and sister,
Caroline McNeel, got together after their father, Ellis G. McNeel, passed
away last year and decided to follow through with the idea first conceived
following their mother’s death in 1995.
“It just seemed like the perfect way to remember our mother,” Richard
McNeel said. “She always spoke about The W and the friends she made there
with such fondness. We feel her time there was one of the best times of
her life.”
McNeel, who grew up in Laurel, where she was salutatorian of her senior
class, graduated from The W in 1945 at the age of 19 with a degree in
mathematics. She was an active student at The W where she was a member of
the Baptist Student Union, the editorial staff of The Spectator, Torch
Honorary, Kappa Mu Epsilon, Gamma Sigma Epsilon and American Guild of
Organists.
She also earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Mississippi State
University in 1949. Following her education, she taught mathematics at
Emory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Agnes Scott College, Georgia State
University and Tulane University.
“She loved math,” Richard McNeel said. “Everywhere we went--Atlanta,
New Orleans--she taught math.”
The Smallwood-McNeel Scholarship is designated for deserving students
in mathematics. It will first be awarded for the 2004-2005 academic year.
For more information about this and other scholarships or to learn more
about establishing a scholarship, please contact MUW’s Office of
Development at (662) 329-7146. |
