2009–10 Mount Mercy University Honor Roll of Donors

of learners
The Ryan family (far left)
has left a legacy that
will impact countless
generations of students
– most recently through
the Suzie Schmidt Cook
Endowed Scholarship
(Title III), in honor
of Suzie Cook (left),
who passed away in
November 2009.
December 2009. “It was her idea to set
up a scholarship,” says Schmidt. “She
truly believed if you get an education,
you can do anything.” Like her grandparents
before her, Cook took the gift
of knowledge seriously. “She really
valued her education at Mount Mercy,”
says Schmidt. “She was always quick
to point out that she graduated from
Mount Mercy.”
Family, friends, colleagues and high
school and college classmates have
contributed more than $15,000 to Suzie’s
endowed scholarship. These funds
all are being matched by the Title III
grant, resulting in an endowment of
more than $30,000 that honors Cook.
Ryan family members have been
dedicated contributors to their scholarships,
which have allowed the funds
to grow over the years and provide
ever more financial support to Mount
Mercy students.
In a poem, “I Want to Be Remembered,”
that Cook wrote months
before she died, she captured her vision
of the scholarship in just the few lines
excerpted here:
I want to be remembered
For working hard
and being proud to do it.
For working smart to prove I could do it.
For working with others and
making sure they, too, could do it.
2009–10 Honor Roll of Donors
Title III grant program strengthens
Mount Mercy endowment
Future generations of Mount Mercy University students will benefit from
16 new endowments created through a federal program that concluded
September 30, 2010.
In 2005, Mount Mercy was awarded a $1.8 million Title III Strengthening
Institutions federal grant. The grant was designed to infuse technology in
new and revised curriculum in the nursing and computer science programs.
Approximately one-sixth of the grant was dedicated to building Mount Mercy’s
endowment by providing one-to-one matching funds for new endowment
funds. During the five-year grant period, donors have established the new
endowments with investments of $337,625. That sum was matched in full
by the U.S. Department of Education’s Title III program, resulting in a total
investment of $675,250 in Mount Mercy’s endowment.
Donations to endowed funds are invested prudently and in perpetuity, and a
portion of the return is used each year to support the scholarship or program
selected by the donor.
No form of investment is more important to a university’s long-term success
than its endowment, which is why the Board of Trustees have made growing
the endowment a priority in Mount Mercy’s strategic plan.
Thanks to all the alumni, faculty, parents and friends who have stepped
forward to give generous endowment gifts to maintain Mount Mercy’s strength
and protect its legacy for future generations.
Mount Mercy’s Title III Endowments
• Glenyce Axon Endowed Fund (Title III)
• *Ray & Helen Barry Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• Suzie Schmidt Cook Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• Phyllis & Patrick Falconio Family Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• *Anna Purna Ghosh Endowed Fund (Title III)
• Sister Mary Ildephonse Holland Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• Sigrund E. Lynch Endowed Library Fund (Title III)
• Helen E. McKee Endowed Fund (Title III)
• *Jane C. Meyer, Ph.D. Endowed Academic Scholarship (Title III)
• Mount Mercy Giving Circle Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• Henry S. Muhlbach Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• Dr. Merilee Rosberg Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• *Lou Schulte-Lois Corkery Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• SIFE Endowed Fund (Title III)
• Joan & David Thaler Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
• Diane M. Wagenaar Endowed Scholarship (Title III)
* Established after June 30, 2010, and not included in this Annual Report
For more information about creating an endowed fund at Mount Mercy
University, please contact Hilery Livengood, Director of Major and Planned
Gifts, at 319-368-6468 or hlivengood@mtmercy.edu.
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