Beloved mentors, fondly remembered. Heart-rending tragedies turned into positive action. Professional pioneers who created opportunities for others. These are just some of the stories behind the scholarships at DMU, with examples highlighted here.
Scholarships enable deserving students to achieve their goals, reduce their debt and demonstrate the commitment of donors who believe in their potential. Donors can provide one-time awards or create an endowed scholarship.
To support an established DMU scholarship fund or create your own, contact the development office.
View the complete list of scholarships and funds.
What is an endowed scholarship?
A donor can create an endowed scholarship fund at DMU with one or more gifts that meet or exceed thresholds established by DMU. Because only the earnings – not the principal – of an endowed fund are paid out as scholarships, these funds benefit DMU students today and will for generations to come.
That lasting impact motivated Dr. Donald Janower and his wife, Barbara, to create an endowed scholarship fund. They financed his education at the College of Osteopathic Medicine – now Des Moines University – with a government loan and Barbara’s teaching salary. He graduated in 1967 approximately $15,000 in debt.
“That was an enormous amount at that time,” he says, “but when I read about medical students today graduating with debt of $150,000 and more, I think they’ll never get out of it.”
Dr. Janower used his education to help build a practice in Detroit that grew to 12 clinics, 35 physicians and 250 employees. Now retired, the couple recently contributed $50,000 to endow the Barbara and Donald Janower Fund to help DMU students with financial need.
“We decided that being at Des Moines University is the reason we’re living the life we are today, and why we can afford to help other students,” Dr. Janower says. “We wanted to find a lasting way to help bright students who are poor like we were.”
Sandra Teague Memorial Scholarship Fund
Sandra Teague was caring, fun-loving, outgoing and relentlessly independent. A racquetball injury and subsequent treatment by a physical therapist opened her eyes to the profession, so she quit her advertising job and went back to school. After completing DMU’s doctor of physical therapy program in 1998, she landed a position at Georgetown University Hospital, where she was considered “an excellent clinician and a rising star” by her colleagues.
Sandra then spent a year planning a three-week adventure to Australia, her first trip abroad and one she was taking by herself. “She didn’t believe in having anyone hold her hand,” says her father, Jim Teague.
Tragically, Sandra was on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, killing 184 people on the plane and in the building. The news stunned family, friends and the DMU community. Within weeks, family members, the DMU physical therapy class of 1998 and program faculty and staff made donations to establish the Sandra Teague Memorial Scholarship Fund. The endowed fund supports students in their final year in DMU’s doctor of physical therapy program.
“We wanted to create something that would continue helping students,” Jim Teague says. “Sandra loved physical therapy, and she loved DMU. This is a one way for me to keep her memory alive. And I know it would please her, too.”
Garrett Reed Wheeler Award in Pediatrics
The death of a child is a devastating loss, difficult to comprehend. So it was when Garrett Reed Wheeler, the three-year-old grandson of Kendall Reed, D.O., FACOS, dean of the DMU College of Osteopathic Medicine, was killed in a tragic accident at his Texas home. Miraculously, five simple words by Garrett’s five-year-old friend Carson helped loved ones begin the healing process.
As Dean Reed recalls, the night after Garrett’s death, the home was full of neighbors and friends who came to offer help and support. Among them were Carson and his parents, who tried to gently explain that Garrett couldn’t play, as he had gone to Heaven to be with Jesus.
“All the adult eyes in the room were anxiously on Carson, expecting some type of grief-stricken response,” Dean Reed recounts. “Instead, Carson, after hesitating briefly, broke out in a big smile and stated to the group, ‘Wasn’t this his lucky day?’”
Dean Reed says he will always remember this story and tell it to others because of the comfort it brought to him and his family. They took the healing process a step further by creating the Garrett Reed Wheeler Award in Pediatrics, a $1,000 award given annually to a DMU graduate who has chosen to specialize in pediatrics.
Glanton Scholarship
Luther T. Glanton Jr. and Willie Stevenson Glanton were lawyers who dedicated their lives to professional leadership and community service. He was the first black judge in Iowa; she was the first black female assistant county attorney and the first black person from Polk County to serve in the Iowa Legislature.
They shared a devotion to DMU, too. Judge Glanton joined the DMU Board of Trustees in 1979; when he died in 1991, Mrs. Glanton took his place on the board, became its chair in 1999 and continues to serve today.
Celebrating the couple’s passion for helping others succeed is the Honorable Luther T. Glanton Jr. and Willie Stevenson Glanton Scholarship, which makes medical and health sciences education more accessible to minority students at Des Moines University. The annual award recognizes both scholarly achievement and financial need. Many individuals and organizations support the fund as sponsors of the annual Glanton Scholarship Dinner.
“By receiving this gift, I have come to understand that not only do my family and friends support my education, but so do those in our community,” says 2008 Glanton Scholarship recipient Theresa Duarte, D.O.’11. “This gives me the encouragement to strive for all that I can achieve, so that one day I may give back to those who believed in me.”
More information about the Glanton Scholarship and the annual Glanton Dinner.
Rebecca A. Stills Memorial Scholarship Fund
Becky Stills epitomized the friendly, supportive nature of Des Moines University. As administrative assistant to the dean of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery from 1988 until her untimely death in May 2003, she personally greeted each new CPMS applicant and student, helped them acclimate to the University and was a great support to many.
“In her service to the University, she was always the consummate professional,” says Robert Yoho, D.P.M., dean of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery. “Her work was exceptional and exact. The respect for her at the University was unwavering and unanimous. She was the model employee for Des Moines University, and she was a friend.”
Becky’s legacy of caring for students continues via the Rebecca A. Stills Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides annual awards for CPMS students. Read more about Becky Stills and her lasting impact on DMU.
Howard A. Graney Surgery Fund
Howard Graney studied osteopathic medicine not to serve humanity, but rather to escape his job in a tailor shop. His needle-and-thread experiences contributed to his outstanding surgical skills, and the 1933 Des Moines University graduate also became renowned for his unwavering commitment to his patients.
Dr. Graney had a wall phone installed by his family’s dinner table so he would never miss a call from a patient, day or night. He was known to purchase children’s activity books to comfort and occupy young hospital patients. At the 1977 convention of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, where Dr. Graney received the college’s highest award, the Orel F. Martin Award, he gently lectured colleagues that surgeons shouldn’t have unlisted numbers or use answering services.
Dr. Graney taught and mentored numerous younger surgeons, too.
“He had just a great demeanor, one that could take individuals and mold them,” says Dr. Norman Rose, a 1963 DMU graduate and a surgeon who trained under Dr. Graney. “That’s what he did with the people he trained.”
Dr. Graney died in 2005, but the Howard A. Graney Surgery Fund continues to benefit students and residents preparing to enter surgical careers. The fund helps cover costs of attending conferences and other training opportunities and offers monetary awards for outstanding teaching, writing and leadership in surgery.
Learn more about Dr. Graney and the Graney Surgery Fund
Desert Storm Veterans Memorial Scholarship
During Operation Desert Storm, Michael Fishkin, D.O.’73, and fellow physician Mark Connelly spent six months in a remote Middle Eastern desert, treating soldiers, preparing for chemical attack and talking about their loved ones. Unfortunately, Dr. Connelly never saw his again: A rocket-propelled grenade took his life on Feb. 28, 1991.
The character and courage of his friend inspired Dr. Fishkin and his wife, Ellen, to create the Desert Storm Veterans Memorial Scholarship at DMU. Every year, the scholarship helps a high-achieving third-year osteopathic medical student who demonstrates an interest in military medicine.
“We wanted to do something for DMU, because I am what I am because of the University,” says Dr. Fishkin.
He also wanted to invest in future generations of military medics. “The most meaningful medicine I’ve practiced is military medicine – to make sure our kids have someone to take care of them,” he says, referring to the nation’s youngest soldiers. “When they cry out for a medic, they need someone there to let them know they will be taken care of in a hostile, foreign place.”
Justice Alfred D. Lerner Endowed Scholarship Fund
Alfred Lerner quit high school to enlist in the U.S. Army. He continued to benefit his country throughout his life, serving as a member of the New York State Assembly, administrative judge, presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division and chair of the state’s Commission of Investigation.
Justice Lerner served Des Moines University, too. He joined the University’s Board of Trustees in 1979 and served until he passed away in August 2009. To honor his service to DMU and the nation, DMU named the Academic Center boardroom in his memory and created the Justice Alfred D. Lerner Endowed Scholarship Fund, established to benefit military veterans enrolled at the University.
“Judge Lerner was a very thoughtful, kind person. When he spoke at board meetings, it was always very meaningful,” says retired DMU President Terry Branstad. “He contributed greatly to the University and to society.”