Scholarships Honor Lee Legacy
Contact Cindi Brownfield
Office of Public Relations & Communications
386-822-7214 or 386-822-8920
[email protected]
Margaret Lee and Stetson University Chancellor H. Douglas Lee. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson University has established two new scholarships in honor of the legacy of outgoing President Doug and First Lady Margaret Lee.
The Margaret and Doug Lee Endowed Scholarships will be awarded annually. An undergraduate scholarship will assist student leaders with strong academic credentials who agree to dedicate 10 hours weekly to community service and a service-based internship, with preference given to African-American, Latino, Asian or Native American students. A second scholarship will support a law student who graduated from Stetson University in DeLand with strong academic credentials and a commitment to public service.
Both scholarship funds will be permanently endowed, helping Stetson students for generations. As the scholarship funds grow in coming years, the annual awards will increase.
Stetson trustee and 1949 law graduate Frances “Dolly” Rutledge Hand and her husband, Homer Hand of Belle Glade, Fla., established the endowed scholarships with lead gifts. Dolly Hand attended the law school when it was located on the DeLand campus, and she and her husband have been longtime supporters of Stetson. The Hands wanted to honor the Lees’ enthusiasm and commitment to Stetson through the scholarships.
Doug Lee became president of Stetson University in June 1987, when he was promoted from executive vice president. Upon his retirement last month, Lee became Stetson’s chancellor – a position equivalent to president emeritus.
Lee’s presidency has focused on commitment to academic excellence, the integration of values into the educational process and active forms of social responsibility. During Lee’s 22-year presidency, Stetson increased the number of faculty members and lowered the student-faculty ratio to 11 to 1; significantly increased the endowment fund; completed numerous capital projects, including five new buildings on the DeLand campus this year; and added Stetson centers in Celebration and Tampa Bay. Doug and Margaret Lee are deeply involved in Volusia County civic affairs and will continue to live in DeLand.
“Doug and Margaret Lee have made a lasting impact on Stetson University, higher education and Central Florida, and we are proud to have them honored in this way for their many years of outstanding leadership and service,” said Linda Davis, Stetson vice president for university relations. “The Lees have been close to so many students through the years that having permanent scholarships awarded in their names seems especially appropriate.”
Gifts to the Margaret and Doug Lee Endowed Scholarship funds can be made at either campus: Stetson University Office of Development, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8286, DeLand, Fla. 32723, 386-822-7455,www.stetson.edu/give; OR Stetson Law Office of College Relations, 1401 61st St. S., Gulfport, Fla. 33707, 727-562-7818, www.law.stetson.edu/give.
Post date: June 8, 2009
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
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