Forty years ago, Dr. Tom McMillan was a college freshman taking notes in a lecture hall when a financial aid officer interrupted the class to call him out into the hallway.

“She handed me an envelope and asked me to read the letter. It informed me that I was to receive an academic scholarship for my sophomore year. The amount of the scholarship paid my tuition for my sophomore year,” McMillan said in a recent note to UALR’s Executive Director of Development Bob Denman and Laura Dobbins, who coordinates the UALR Campus Campaign.

“The representative from financial aid told me that the scholarship was made possible because of private donations to an endowment,” McMillan said. “I could say that I worked my way through college, and that would be partly true.

“But I know that many of the opportunities I had were the result of sacrifices made by my family and by total strangers. The scholarships I received were counted out in dollars, but, for me, they were measured in hours. I never had to work during the academic year and that freedom allowed me more time for my primary task – getting a university education.  I know that scholarships provide a student with that most valuable commodity – time.”

McMillan, now a professor of mathematics and statistics and chair of the Department of Mathematics, is paying back his college benefactors by contributing to and working for UALR’s Campus Campaign.

“That those in earlier generations contributed to my education adds to my sense of obligation to contribute what little I can to those who follow me,” he said.

He and his wife, Linda, established a scholarship at Radford University in Virginia in honor of his parents’ 50th anniversary and to which many members of his family contribute. Today, the endowment has grown to $30,000. Every year, McMillan looks forward to receiving a thank-you letter from the student who receives the scholarship.

When he joined UALR, former Dean J.W. Wiggins asked him to serve on the Campus Campaign Steering Committee.

“I very soon realized that UALR is a special place, and my service on the committee allowed me to contribute more than financially,” McMillan said. “It is a pleasure and a privilege for me to serve.  I thank you and Laura for all that you do for UALR and for allowing me to participate in the Campus Campaign in a personally meaningful way.”