Dedicated to Student Success

Dr. Miles Lovelace and Nancy Lovelace do not have children of their own, yet strong parental instincts are evident when it comes to Truman and ensuring that students have the resources necessary to thrive.

"We always considered our students to be like members of our own family," Miles reveals. "Our donations to Truman's endowment over the years supported students we knew when we were faculty members. Our gifts were invested by the Foundation. These gifts continue to support students today, and they will support students who enter the University in the future. They are also supporting Truman in its efforts to deliver the highest quality education possible."

Miles and Nancy joined the Baldwin Society in the 1990s when they were working at Truman. Miles was professor of education, head of the Division of Education and associate vice president for academic affairs. Nancy was an assistant professor of English at that time.

Documenting a gift for the University through a gift in their will earned them membership in Truman's prestigious planned giving society and provided deferred gift support for the Harold and Helen Stewart Scholarship. They established this scholarship for the Division of Education's Master of Arts in Education students, to honor Nancy's parents.

New Adventures
They took early retirement at Truman in 1997 to continue their careers in international education, which led to assignments in Beirut, Lebanon; Ankara, Turkey; and Doha, Qatar, after they left Missouri. In addition, they extended their world travels to include visiting more than 120 countries since they both began their overseas adventures with the Peace Corps in 1962 and 1963.

As they began to plan for the distribution of their estate, it was entirely logical for them to think of including Truman in their will. Their 10 years at Truman were at a very exciting time, as NMSU was transitioning to Truman State University. Their students were both challenging and diligent.

"Our colleagues were stimulating, and Truman's leadership under Presidents McClain and Magruder was inspirational," Nancy reflects.

The Lovelaces' plans for the $100,000 gift are to add $25,000 to their existing scholarship fund (The Stewart Scholarship for MAE students) and to establish a new scholarship for entering freshmen.

The Miles and Nancy Lovelace Scholarship will be funded with the remaining $75,000. This scholarship will be open to any well-qualified student with financial need who is a first generation college student, like both Nancy and Miles were.

"We know that a university education opened many, many doors for both of us that our parents and grandparents never experienced," Miles says. "We have lived rich, full lives filled with tons of world travel, study of several foreign languages and cultures, and exciting teaching experiences and adventures, which included living outside the United States a total of nearly 30 years. This would never have been possible without our university degrees. We hope that the new scholarship will offer such an opportunity to future Truman students once the scholarship is funded after our deaths."

If you want to learn how to make a mark on a student's life with a gift of a scholarship, please contact Cody Weichelt at 660-785-4124 or cweichelt@truman.edu.