Alumna Csomay presents Upper Iowa University with $847,000 gift
Upper Iowa University alumna Barbara (Rankin) Csomay has presented Upper Iowa University (UIU) with $847,000 toward an endowed scholarship and to establish an Honors Program across the curriculum on the Fayette campus.
FAYETTE, Iowa (May 19, 2010) – Upper Iowa alumna Barbara (Rankin) Csomay has presented Upper Iowa University (UIU) with $847,000 toward an endowed scholarship and to establish an Honors Program across the curriculum on the Fayette campus.
“Mrs. Csomay’s generosity is very much appreciated,” said Dr. Alan G. Walker, UIU president. “This substantial gift reflects the importance of our alumni in and the positive effect they can have on our students’ lives now and well into the future.”
The Csomay Endowed Scholarship was established this year and awarded for the first time at the annual Scholarships and Awards Banquet in March. It is intended to support student scholarly pursuits and high academic standards. The bulk of the Csomay gift was presented to the University recently and will be used to establish an Honors Program on campus, which the faculty has already started planning.
“Upper Iowa is in a unique position to provide excellent learning experiences in a well thought-out Honors Program,” said Dr. David Chown, UIU chief academic officer. “We are able to think ‘blue sky’ with our multiple locations and modalities, which can provide travel experiences and cultural experiences that few institutions can match.” He added, “I am confident that UIU will build a quality program with special activities and experiences for our future Honors students.”
Csomay grew up in Kanawha, Iowa, where she attended Kanawha Community High School. She graduated from Upper Iowa University in 1946 with a teaching degree in music and earned a master’s from the University of Iowa. Csomay’s teaching career began in Fayette on the Emergency Teaching Permit during World War II. She also taught in Heidelberg, Germany, Garner, Iowa, and Parma, Ohio, where she met and married her husband, the late Richard Csomay, who was an accomplished musician and song writer. The couple travelled the world and had homes in Los Angeles and Kanawha, where Csomay currently resides.
Contact:
Monica Bayer Heaton
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
Phone: 563-425-5773
Cell: 515-291-2070
heatonm@uiu.edu
About Upper Iowa University
Founded in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private, not-for-profit university providing undergraduate and graduate degree programs and leadership development opportunities to over 6,600 students—nationally and internationally—at its Fayette campus and learning centers worldwide. Upper Iowa University is a recognized innovator in offering accredited, quality programs through flexible, multiple delivery systems, including online and independent study. For more information, visit www.uiu.edu.
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