Trustees’ Memorial Scholarships
Cooper Foundation Trustees’ Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Cooper Foundation’s support for scholarships at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln dates back to the earliest days of the foundation. Joe Cooper created scholarships in 1938 to honor founding board members John Miller and Charles Stuart. Over the next 20 years, scholarships and fellowships were created in business, journalism, law, animal husbandry, and medicine to honor other trustees who had passed away.
In 1964, the annual scholarships were combined to create the Trustees’ Memorial Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation, which provided $5,000 scholarships for graduates in the new MBA program at the College of Business. By 1977, the MBA program was well-established, and the fund was directed toward Merit Scholarships, to encourage exceptional students to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As of 2021, the fund balance was over $1 million, and it annually provides cash support for UNL’s Merit Scholarship recipients.
1935
Joseph H. Cooper, Founder
1930s
Maxwell V. Boghtel, Attorney, Knudsen Law FirmSidney R. Kent, Attorney, New York CityJohn E. Miller, Founder and President, Miller & PaineCharles Stuart, President, Stuart Investment Co.Edwin N. Van Horne, Commercial and Investment BankerSamuel C. Waugh, Banker; Undersecretary of State; President, Export-Import BankJ.C. Seacrest, Publisher, Lincoln JournalR. Erle Campbell, Chair, Miller & PaineJ.W. Seacrest, Publisher, Lincoln JournalT.B. Strain, Chair, Continental National Bank
1940s
Arthur S. Raymond, Chair, Lincoln Drug Co.
C.S. Boucher, Chancellor, University of Nebraska
Samuel R. McKelvie, Nebraska Governor; Fedral Farm Board; Publisher, The Nebraska Farmer
J. Lee Rankin, Partner, Beghtol, Foe and Rankin; Solicitor General of the U.S.; Corporation Counsel of City of New York
1950s
C. Wheaton Battey, Chair, First National BankTheodore A. Sick, Chair, Security Mutual Life Insurance Co.Elwood N. Thompson, President, Chair, Cooper Foundation
1960s
Hermine Goldberg, Esther and Hermine Goldberg Foundation
Honorary Trustee
1960s
Hermione Goldberg, Esther and Hermione Goldberg Foundation
Honorary Trustee
1970s
Burnham Yates, Chair and President, First National Bank Harold Hoppe, Chair, W.F. Hoppe Lumber Company James H. Zumberge, Chancellor, University of Nebraska E. J. Faulkner, Honorary Chair, Woodman Accident and Life Co. Robert A. Dobson, Chair Emeritus, Dobson Brothers Construction Co. Mel C. Glatz, Founder Mel C. Glatz & Associates, Inc. Honorary Trustee W.W. Nuernberger, Judge, Juvenile Court of Lancaster County Kathryn "TIsh" Druliner, Owner, Hovland-Swanson John E. Olsson, Founder, Olsson Associates
1980s
William Smith, President, First National Bank
1990s
Durward B. Varner, President Emeritus, University of Nebraska; Chair Emeritus, University of Nebraska FoundationJohn White, President, Nebraska Wesleyan University
2010s
Pam Snow, Executive Director, Nebraska Cultural Endowment Richard "Dick" Knudsen, Partner, Knudsen Berkheimer Honorary Trustee