BHSU RECEIVES DONATION FOR MATHEMATIC SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUND

Black Hills State University is establishing a mathematics need based scholarship endowment fund thanks to a gift from Dr. Colin Garnett, associate professor of mathematics at BHSU.

The scholarship will be annually awarded to a full-time BHSU student in a mathematics or mathematics education major that demonstrates the greatest financial need. The student must be taking all classes through BHSU and will receive half of the scholarship in the fall semester and the remainder in the spring.

“Scholarship endowments are critical to the success of BHSU’s future,” said Steve Meeker, vice president for university advancement at BHSU. “This fund will provide over $5,000 a year in perpetuity for future students pursuing a degree in mathematics or mathematics education. This gift also speaks volumes about Dr. Colin Garnett and his family regarding the welfare of our students.”

Dr. Garnett donated $100,000 to create the endowment fund after money was left to him by his grandmother, Dolores Schlessman. Garnett explained that Schlessman had given her grandchildren the instructions to donate this inheritance to a charity that was important to them.

“I noticed that many of our students are working two or three jobs and taking out big loans. In order to alleviate some of the strain on our students I decided to use her donation to establish a scholarship for those students,” Dr. Garnett said.

Dr. Garnett has taught mathematics at BHSU for eight years after receiving his undergraduate degree from Willamette University and his PhD from the University of Wyoming. His specific interests include combinatorial matrix theory and graph theory.