Donor Stories

Brimmer Scholars - Wyoming’s ‘Rhodes Scholarship’

The Judge Clarence A. Brimmer Scholars Program is Wyoming’s Rhodes Scholarship—one of the most competitive and prestigious offered by the Law School and the university. It rewards student excellence in legal education in the classroom and in extracurricular activities, as well as in service to the Law School, UW, and the people of Wyoming.

Brimmer Scholars receive substantial scholarship stipends—up to $10,000, the largest awarded by the College of Law—to defray the expenses of the third year of law school, and they make a commitment to service during that third year. Read more... 

The Need to Read

How can you tell if a child will do well in school?

One of the most important indicators of student success is whether they can read at a proficient level by the end of third grade. Only 33 percent of Wyoming third graders are proficient in reading, according to 2010 PAWS testing data, while the national number is only 31 percent. Read more...

Educating Educators

Educators are a lifeline connecting young people with their hopes and dreams. Their importance is evident in the focus we place on them in our legislation and our national conversation.

It’s easy to talk about how important teachers are and quite another to give teachers the opportunities and support they need to succeed. The University of Wyoming Science and Mathematics Teaching Center (SMTC), with invaluable support from the Sigrid A. See Scholarship and the Rex and Florence Anderson Memorial Fund, is doing just that.  Read more...

A Legacy of Love

"Kurt always saw the value in rural vet practice," says Laura Bucholz. "He wanted to encourage more people to go in that direction. Everyone wants to go to the big city, but there's a demand for large animal vets, and he wanted to steer kids in that direction. The endowment is something he would really be pleased with."  Read more...

Supporting Wyoming Students

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a college education almost doubles a person's future income. However, attending the university isn't an option for many students from small-town Wyoming-unless they receive a scholarship-and even then, they often have to work or take on substantial debt. That's one of the many things that makes the John L. Kemmerer, Jr. Scholarship so invaluable. It pays for everything a student needs-tuition, books, lodging, and food-for students from Kemmerer and Dubois and pays for tuition and fees for students from Cokeville. Therefore, the Kemmerer Scholarship maintains up to 12 students at the university at one time.  Read more...

A Deserving Legacy

Everett Lantz and Elizabeth (Betty) Stratton met as students at the University of Wyoming and began together what would become a life devoted to supporting UW and Wyoming's youth for 46 years.

The couple began working on the campus following graduation in 1936, Everett in Athletics as a wrestling and football coach and Betty in the UW Libraries. Read more... 

Max Castagne's Gifts Support Future Engineering Students

Max Castagne's slide rule rests proudly on a shelf in Dean Rob Ettema's office in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. But that's not the only thing Max bequeathed to his beloved alma mater—he also left a significant portion of his estate, which will leave its mark on future generations of engineers. Read more... 

Supporting UW Athletics and Geology

Sometimes the greatest gifts come out of the blue, totally unexpected, with no strings attached. That opportunity at the final buzzer.

The estate gift from Sherrill and Anna Drum to Athletics and the Department of Geology and Geophysics is like that. No one knew it was coming, and the Drums gave the university flexibility in how the gift can be applied. Read more...  

Supporting Future Petroleum Engineers

Encana Corporation President and UW alum Randy Eresman and his wife Shelly have pledged $1 million to create the Eresman Family Engineering Endowment, which will support Canadian students who transfer to the University of Wyoming to study petroleum engineering.

"Randy epitomizes what the University of Wyoming aspires to instill in its graduates," says UW President Tom Buchanan. "As Encana's president and CEO, Randy has been instrumental in the exceptional relationship between UW and Encana, and now he has taken it one step further with his very generous personal gift with his wife Shelly. We cannot fully express how grateful we are for Randy and Shelly's generosity."  Read more...

Riverbend Ranch Gift Supports Wildlife and Livestock Health

Much of Wyoming's economy-agriculture, tourism, outdoor recreation, and hunting-depends on the health of its livestock and wildlife. Working to ensure the wellness of the state's animal population is the University of Wyoming Wildlife-Livestock Health Center. Support for this center will come from an important gift of property, the Riverbend Ranch, as well as from the Wyoming Legislature and other sources.

"Being able to build critical mass in the area of wildlife and livestock health only strengthens us," says Frank Galey, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "The University of Wyoming having a presence there is important to the state."  Read more...

Generosity Transforms Environmental Program

It is not an overstatement to say that the University of Wyoming's educational program in Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) was largely made possible by two people, Helga and Erivan Haub. 

The Haubs' generous gift of $3 million in 2004-which was doubled to $6 million by the Wyoming Legislature's state matching program-provided the funding to establish the school, which was renamed the Helga Otto Haub School of Environmental and Natural Resources.  Read more ...

Anadarko Supports Energy Research Excellence

Dr. Vladimir Alvarado in the UW Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering is trying to solve a sticky problem that's been around for a while: What do you do with the so-called "dirty water" that is produced from oil drilling. His solution? After conditioning this oil and water mix for stability, re-inject it. This serves three purposes: 1) it's a better way to dispose of the water, 2) 3‑5% more oil is recovered, which is actually quite a lot, and 3) it saves money. Read more ...

A Special Place Built on Relationships

The University of Wyoming is the collaborative effort of so many-the president and the state legislature, donors and alumni, faculty and students. It has been and continues to be built upon the relationships of its many contributors. 

A prime example is the new Sullivan Family Student Center within the College of Education. The college needed a place where students could gather, and an opportunity presented itself to further enhance the Education Annex, which had been remodeled in recent years to accommodate technologically enhanced classrooms. Read more ...

Supporting the Creativity of UW Playwrights

Theater-and playwriting in particular-is one of the little-known areas of excellence at the University of Wyoming.

Indeed, UW's students of playwriting regularly win awards, most recently two Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival National Student Playwriting awards, two Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting prizes, and two David Mark Cohen National Playwriting awards, among many others for theater and playwriting.  Read more ... 

Ultra Creates University Chair of Energy

Imagine being able to hire the absolute experts in the field to teach our young people-authorities who've worked in industry for decades and who have the practical skill set to guide a project from idea to development to realizing a profit.

That's the idea behind the Ultra Petroleum Visiting Chair of Energy, the first of its kind at UW in the sciences and engineering. Read more ...

Tom Stroock, Ambassador of Generosity

Ambassador Thomas Stroock was a passionate and dedicated public servant whose generosity to his adopted home state of Wyoming and to its university extends way beyond his lifetime.

"When I first came to Wyoming, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven," said Tom in a 2009 interview. Read more ...

Railroad Expert Leaves A Legacy

Jim Ehernberger has worked his whole life on what he is passionate about, and now he wants to pass it on to others.

Jim loves the railroad. He saw his first train at age four and has never looked back. As a kid, he hung out at the depot and started collecting train schedules. He got his first job at age 16 for the Union Pacific Railroad in Cheyenne and stayed on for thirty-four years. Read more ...

The Values of Success

Bud Noffsinger values hard work, humility, teamwork, trustworthiness, toughness, and braveryideals, he says, that UW imparts to its students. 

"A young, energized, hard-working UW grad is an extremely valuable asset," he says. That's why he and his wife Jessica established a College of Business Dean's Excellence Fund that was supported in part by the Wyoming State Matching Program. Read more ...

UW: Wyoming's Greatest Resource

The University of Wyoming is many things to many people, but to Dick and Maggie Scarlett it is one of our state's most valuable assets.

For many years, Dick has claimed that the crown jewel of the state of Wyoming is the university. "The university is our state's greatest economic resource, as well as a tremendous unifying force for its residents," says Dick. "It doesn't matter what political persuasion you are or what industry you are in, nearly everyone understands and appreciates the critical roll the University of Wyoming plays within the state." Read more ...

A Centennial Centenarian

Violet Dinwiddie, who was born and raised on a ranch near Laramie, is 100 years old. "I've seen a lot of change in the last 100 years," she says. "It's a different world."

When she sold her house in Laramie after retiring to Arizona, Violet created two charitable remainder unitrusts?one that provides scholarships to students in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and the other to support research in wildlife and livestock diseases. Read more ...

Honoring the University's Libraries

The lifeblood of any university is information, and the single most important source of this information is the institution's library.

Darryl Bindschadler agrees. "Libraries are a central gathering place for education and research at the university," he says.

Darryl remembers in the 1950s that the library was a staid and formal place. Since then, though, it has undergone a comprehensive change, especially with the recent addition and renovation to William Robertson Coe Library. Read more ...

His Heart Is in Agriculture

Wyoming's heart is in agriculture. The state was settled by cattlemen and homesteaders, and many of us are still ranchers and farmers, growing beef cattle and alfalfa or wheat and sugar beets.

Victor McMurry's heart is also in agriculture. Though Vic's father was in the construction business, when Vic came to UW he chose to attend the College of Agriculture. Read more ...

A Passion for Agriculture Fuels Advocacy

When Ron and Lynne Pulley of Huntley, Wyoming, began thinking about retirement, they chose a plan that would not only give them a secure income but also would benefit something that they strongly believe in?agriculture. As a result of their involvement with the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture, they funded a charitable gift annuity in 2008 that will be used to support graduate assistants in the Department of Animal Science. Read more ...

Maj. Gen. Pamerleau Establishes an Endowment to Support All UW AFROTC Students

What does Major General (ret.) Susan L. Pamerleau care about?

"Living life to the fullest, and making a difference in the way that I can," says Gen. Pamerleau. "Where I think I can help the best is in making sure my estate can do the kinds of things that I am passionate about, and that's making sure that young people have opportunities." Read more ...

UW Pharmacy Receives $1.1 Million Gift

A more than $1.1 million gift from the charitable remainder trust of Wyoming native Dr. Linda Wells (B.S. pharmacy '70) to the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy will help fund graduate assistant research and provide scholarships for UW pharmacy students. It is the largest gift ever presented to the pharmacy school. Read more ...