What Gifts Have Done in the Past

Private support has enabled the College of Education to provide a first-rate education for UI students, top-notch research that helps shape the field of education, and crucial service to the state of Iowa. Here are just a few examples of how gifts have helped the college fulfill its mission:

• The Rolland Ray Award Fund was created through a bequest of $260,000 from the estate of Gleynafa T. Ray of Iowa City, who made the gift in memory of her husband. Rolland Ray, who died in 1986, earned an M.A. degree in 1941 and a Ph.D. in 1951, both from the College of Education. The Ray fellowship is intended for Ph.D. students whose dissertations deal with measurement and assessment in the areas of science, math, social studies, or English, and is awarded based on the quality and significance of the students' research.
• Myron Blank of Des Moines and his late wife, Jacqueline, gave $5 million -- and the children of the late David and Connie Belin, also of Des Moines, gave $500,000 -- to help construct the new Blank Honors Center and support educational programming for the Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, and the UI Honors Program. The Belin-Blank Center provides a variety of programs to meet the advanced educational needs of talented children and their teachers. Over the last 20 years, the Blanks have given more than $9 million to support the center.
• Mary Louise Petersen, of Harlan, Iowa, created the Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education, which provides research flexibility and national prestige to an outstanding faculty member in the college. The chair is currently held by Professor Ernest Pascarella. Endowed faculty positions such as this help attract and retain top scholars and help leverage funding from other external sources like foundations and government agencies. Petersen, who earned a B.A. degree in science education in 1951, is a member of the UI Foundation board of directors and co-chair of the UI's comprehensive campaign.

These are just several examples of the generosity that has helped the College of Education strengthen its reputation as a national and international leader.

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