'Southern 2021

Giving to BSC
Honoring Loved Ones
Through Student Support
Weezer
When you think about what a liberal arts education looks like, turn to
Andre Yu Tiamco.
A senior at Birmingham-Southern, Yu Tiamco is finishing up his physics major,
along with minors in math, music, and data science. He is also active on campus
as the president of Spectrum and the secretary of Identity – both of which are
LGBTQ+ student organizations that lead inclusive events and offer support – and
as the vice president of Theta Chi Fraternity.
With on-campus leadership and classes across several departments, Yu Tiamco
is involved in multiple fields. That’s one of the reasons he was first drawn to BSC
after hearing about it from his brother, Nino Yu Tiamco ’13, and sister-in-law,
Catherine Gilliland Yu Tiamco ’14.
“Smaller schools have much more interconnected communities, and BSC is no
exception,” Yu Tiamco says. “I enjoy being able to walk around campus and see
faces ranging from familiar to friendly daily. My brother and his wife both spoke
very highly of the school, specifically praising the value of a liberal arts education,
even for STEM majors such as myself.”
Yu Tiamco will graduate 70 years after Dr. H. Newton Malony ’52, but both
share the same academic dedication, campus involvement, and pursuit of
multiple subjects across disciplines. It’s no mistake that they share an appreciation
of their education – Yu Tiamco is a recipient of the Amy Malony Samuels
Endowed Scholarship.
The scholarship was established and named after Dr. Malony’s mother,
Amy Malony Samuels, a schoolteacher who worked hard to support her son’s
education. She carefully saved up her money and, in 1969, left a bequest of
$10,000 to the College to support more hardworking and deserving BSC students.
Malony was an active student at BSC, where he met his wife, Suzanna Davis
Malony ’54. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in history, he went on to pursue
several graduate degrees, earning his Master of Divinity from Yale University and
his Master of Science and Ph.D. in psychology from Vanderbilt University.
Much like Yu Tiamco, Malony studied seemingly disconnected disciplines,
but each subject played an important role in his career at Fuller Theological
Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he served as a professor with
distinction from 1969 to 2015.
After Samuels established the scholarship, the Malony family also committed
to supporting the endowment and, in 2009, decided to fund a new scholarship
honoring Suzanna Davis Malony’s parents, educators Grace Davis and Harold
Davis. The Davis family showed a commitment to education and generosity, and
they are now honored through an additional award for BSC students.
Endowed scholarships like those from the Malony and Davis families support
BSC students throughout their time on the Hilltop and support whatever goals
and dreams they pursue. For Yu Tiamco, he hopes to begin Ph.D. work in physics
and see where that takes him – maybe back into the classroom as a professor.
“The scholarships I have received during my time at BSC have provided the
monetary leeway to not only succeed in my academics, but to do so comfortably
such that I can more freely enjoy my time here as well,” he says.
If you want to learn more about planned giving and other scholarships at the
College, please email advancement@bsc.edu.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Weezer
60 / ’southern