Recent Gifts to CASL Scholarships and Programs

The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters depends on generous gifts to support scholarships and programs, furthering the college's commitment to providing students with an outstanding educational experience.  The College is grateful for these expressions of generosity, and the following are examples of gifts and the impact they have on our students and programs. 

Environmental Study Area Endowed Fund 

$258,677 from the Helga Postell estate in memory of her late son, Norbert, who was a UM-Dearborn alumnus and loved the campus's outdoor areas. Helga was a long-time donor who helped establish this fund years ago after her son passed away.  

Mary Ann and Tim Abeska Endowed "Get to Graduation" Fund

A $5,000 challenge gift from Tim Abeska ('79 Poli Sci) to increase the amount of the endowment. Members of our CASL Dean's Advisory Council quickly responded to the challenge with gifts surpassing the $5,000 challenge.    

Hani Fakhouri and Aleya Rouchdy Scholarship 

A $40,000 gift from Drs. Fakhouri and Rouchdy to establish an endowed scholarship for students who are minoring (or majoring if this is offered in the future) in Arab American Studies, working on the Arab American Studies certificate, or are enrolled in any Arab American Studies course. 

Vaman and Ratna Naik Endowed Scholarship 

A pledge of $25,000 from Drs. Vaman and Ratna Naik to create a scholarship for Physics or Chemistry majors.  

Sidney Warschausky Fund for Literature, Philosophy and Arts (LPA) Students

Lorraine Nadelman and her son, Carl Warschausky ('85 LSA, '89 Ross) and his wife, Laurie McCollum ('85 LSA), made gifts totaling $3,500 to support LPA  majors so they can participate in conferences and/or research or for those with financial need.  

UM-Dearborn Chancellor's Scholarship Fund 

An estate gift of $295,000 from CASL alumna, Dr. Mary Anne Plano ('83 Physics), to support the recruitment of CASL and other UM-Dearborn students.  

Helen Zawada-Bronisz Book Fund 

Mary Ann Zawada ('74 Rackham) contributed $4,000 to the expendable fund she established in honor of her sister to benefit SOAR students and $15,000 to the fund's endowment.  

William H. Liebold II Public Affairs Internship Scholarship 

Bill ('73 BGS) and Cam Liebold donated $4,000 to support scholarships for students participating in internships in politics or public service.  

Robert and Colleen Picchi Scholarship 

A gift of $7,500 from Robert ('81 BGS) and Colleen Picchi for their endowed scholarship to support UM-Dearborn students (with a preference for CASL students).  

Current Challenge Gifts

UM-Dearborn Ottawa/Canada Internship Program Endowment 

We announced last spring that alumni Eric Nemeth ('85 Political Science) and Paula Nemeth ('85 Mathematics Studies) made a generous challenge gift of $50,000 to ensure the Ottawa Internship Program continues long into the future.  If you would like to participate in this challenge, please click here to make a gift online.  You can also support support student scholarships for the program by clicking here.  

UM-Dearborn Washington DC Internship Scholarship 

We received an anonymous challenge gift of $5,000 for this scholarship. If you would like to participate in this challenge, please click here.

UM-Dearborn CASL "Get to Graduation" Fund - Challenge Met!

Thanks to alumna Cheryl Chapekis (’77 Psychology-Sociology) and her husband, Andy (Ann Arbor ’76 BS, ’78 MS, ’83 MD, ’89 Med Fellowship), and their $50,000 challenge gift to raise funds for the CASL “Get to Graduation” Fund, CASL received another $50,000 in gifts for the Fund. Since the Fund was established, over 60 CASL students have received support to help them “Get to Graduation.”

A gift in memory of UM-Dearborn alumna Marian (Herman) Horowitz (’70 BA/Teaching Cert, Ann Arbor ’80 MA) by her husband, Dr. Richard Douglass (Ann Arbor ‘71 MPH, ’74 Ph.D.), in the amount of $23,500 enabled CASL to fulfill the challenge. According to Richard, “Learning and helping others to learn, a passion for children's literacy, and a lifelong commitment to serving the underserved drove Marian throughout her life... There are so many bad things describing 2020 that I would like Marian's life to serve as a beacon of hope for a damaged and struggling world.” Richard encourages others to support CASL students in need.

Thanks also to the many others who made gifts totaling close to $27,000 to help CASL meet this challenge.

If you would like to make a gift to help CASL students achieve their goal of completing a four-year degree, click here for gifts that can be used immediately to help students or here to help grow the Fund’s endowment, ensuring that CASL can help students who need financial assistance to “Get to Graduation” long into the future. Thank you!

September 2020

Recent Gifts

Maureen and Timothy Cotter Mathematics Scholarship

$15,000 pledge from Maureen (’83 Mathematics/Teaching Cert.) and Timothy (Ann Arbor ’73 BA) Cotter to provide need-based scholarships to undergraduate students who have declared, or intend to declare, a major in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and are active in one or more of the following student organizations: Association of Women Veterans, Empowered Arab American Women Association, Women in Learning and Leadership, and/or the CASL SOAR Program.

Garden Club of Dearborn Scholarship

$2,000 from the Garden Club of Dearborn to support students enrolled in studies of Environmental Sciences with preference given to students who participate in the internship program at the Environmental Interpretive Center. 

UM-Dearborn Humanities Support Fund

Anonymous gift of $1,924. 

March 2020

Recent Gifts

Dearborn Police Officers Charities Community Service Scholarship

$7,500 from the Dearborn Police Officers Charities to establish a new scholarship for UM-Dearborn students interested in careers in law enforcement, pursuing a degree in Criminology & Criminal Justice Studies, and who have graduated from Dearborn Public Schools or a private or charter high school located in Dearborn. 

CASL Internship Scholarship 

$2,000 from Larry ('87 BGS) and Judy Lemieur to help CASL students be able to participate in unpaid internships, an experience that often results in a job offer upon graduation and increases their competitiveness when applying for jobs with other employers.  If you would like to contribute to this scholarship, please click here.  

January 2020

Recent Gifts

Help Yourself Win Foundation

$120,000 to implement after-school math and science education programming for 3rd-8th graders called the University of Michigan-Dearborn Help Yourself Academy. 

Richard and Linda Dyer Scholarship

$100,000 from Richard ('65 Math) and Linda Dyer ('65 Teaching Certificate) to endow their four-year scholarship for CASL majors who are graduates of Fordson High School.   

Lebowski Achiever Scholarship

$25,000 from an anonymous donor for one four year scholarship for a CASL undergraduate or transfer student (from a Michigan community college) who graduated from a Michigan public or charter school. The scholarship is based on merit and need and preference is given to a student majoring in the Natural Sciences. 

Mathematics Support Fund and CASL "Get to Graduation" Fund

$8,500 from an anonymous donor ($6,000 for the Mathematics Support Fund and $2,500 for the CASL "Get to Graduation" Fund).  Please click on the links above to make a contribution to one or both of these funds. 

CASL "Get to Graduation" Fund

$7,500 from two anonymous donors and $2,356 from alumni Bryant ('81 Chem) and Kim ('79 Chem) LaFreniere towards the $50,000 Andy and Cheryl Chapekis ('77 Psych-Sociology) challenge gift. Please click here if you would like to contribute towards the challenge and help CASL students with financial barriers to graduation achieve their dreams of graduating. 

Robert and Colleen Picchi Scholarship

$5,000 from Bob ('81 BGS) and Colleen Picchi for their endowed scholarship for CASL students. 

CASL SOAR Support Fund

$5,000 from an anonymous donor to help increase access to post-secondary education for non-traditional adult learners in the metro area who are experiencing socioeconomic challenges. Please click here if you would like to contribute to the SOAR program.  

Roger C. Loeb Scholarship

$4,000 from Roger Loeb for his endowed scholarship to provide merit and need based scholarships to CASL undergraduate and graduate students majoring in Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Behavioral Sciences, Health Psychology or Clinical Health Psychology.  

Dr. Richard Potts Endowed Scholarship

$3,000 from Willy Krusell ('70 Chemistry) to help provide scholarships to CASL students majoring in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Environmental Sciences.  

Natural Sciences Support Fund

$2,500 from David ('83 Chemistry) and Sharon Spaight to help support the maintenance and/or purchase of equipment for the Chemistry Discipline. Please click here if you would like to make a gift to support Natural Sciences education at UM-Dearborn.