I’m thrilled to share some exciting news—we’ve reached our first significant milestone in building the Scott Hemsell Memorial Scholarship for MIS.
Initial $50k Raised
Thanks to your generosity and the collective support of our community, we’ve successfully raised the $50k required to establish a permanent endowment at the University of Texas at Austin!
This achievement is a testament to your belief in:
- Building a legacy to honor the life of Scott Hemsell by supporting the next generation of MIS professionals
- The power of a quality education at McCombs
- The ability of a small group of committed individuals to collectively make a difference in the lives of others
We are deeply grateful for your contribution, which should start making a difference THIS ACADEMIC YEAR (2024-25) with the award of our first scholarship!
With the initial $50k raised, we can expect the first scholarship to be around $2,000.
It’s not just one person that can make a difference, it is a team effort — Cindy Lo, MIS 1998
What’s Next?
As we celebrate this accomplishment, we’re also looking ahead to our next challenge. We must broaden our outreach to fully realize our vision for this scholarship. The next phase involves launching an awareness campaign to inform and engage all MIS program graduates.
Our Department Chair (Anitesh Barua) must initiate this campaign with the McCombs Development office. The goals are:
- Broader awareness—We must ensure that all our graduates know the endowments created to support the MIS program.
- Connection—Our communication should help bridge the gap between two distinct eras of MIS graduates:
- Before Rick Byars retired (~1982-2015)
- After Rick’s retirement (2015-present)
- Greater impact—The impact of our endowments is directly related to the market value of the endowment funds (e.g., The greater the balance of the Scholarship fund, the more Scholarship money is available each year).
Your continued support will be crucial as we expand our efforts. Using our volunteer leaders, we will need a ground-roots effort to reach alumni who might not receive the campaign message directly from McCombs. We can each use social media, email, phone, and texts to reach graduates in our sphere of influence.
We believe that with the collective strength of our alumni and supporters, we can provide truly meaningful opportunities for deserving students through this scholarship.
The Hemsell Scholarship is not financial aid. It’s an investment in changing the world — Beki (Mueller) Duhon, MIS 1997
Once again, thank you for your unwavering support. We are building a legacy to honor Scott Hemsell that will empower students for generations to come.
After all, what is a legacy other than an opportunity to change the world?
Warm regards,
Steve Sweeney