The Horner Study Abroad Scholarship Fund will provide scholarships based on academic merit and financial need. The scholarships, which may be awarded to undergraduate or graduate students, will be open to students studying in any academic discipline at KU. Initially, there will be an emphasis on scholarships for the study abroad activities of the KU Center for International Business Education and Research.

KU alumnus Larry D. Horner, who graduated with a business degree in 1956, and his wife, Donna Manning Horner, of San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, established the scholarship fund through a gift to KU Endowment, KU’s official fundraising organization.

The couple said the experiences they have gained in Europe, Asia and Latin America prompted them to establish the scholarship. Their hope is to help students experience other cultures and broaden their perceptions of the world.

“Studying abroad helps students gain a great deal of breadth in their personal and business life,” Larry Horner said. “It teaches people to be open minded and realize that the way we do things in the United States isn’t the only way they can be done.”

Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco, director of KU’s Office of Study Abroad, said students cite the cost of studying abroad as their greatest obstacle.

“Scholarships such as the Horner scholarship, which will offer support to those with financial need, will help KU in its goal to offer international experiences to the widest range of students possible,” she said.

Gronbeck-Tedesco said the scholarship would help the Office of Study Abroad meet its goal of doubling the number of students studying abroad in the next seven years.

The fund also will strengthen the competitive standing of the Center for International Business Education and Research, a federally funded center at KU that prepares students for international careers.

“The Horner Scholarship Fund will help KU demonstrate that there is significant private support for CIBER programs,” said Melissa Birch, associate professor of business and director of the center. “This in turn will help us be more competitive in winning additional federal support.”

Larry Horner grew up in rural Kansas near Salina. He is the retired chairman of the company now known as KPMG. Following his 35-year career with KPMG, he served as chairman of several private and public corporations in the United States and Southeast Asia. He has served and continues to serve on the boards of several multinational companies.

The Horners have traveled extensively. Larry Horner has worked in Europe and Asia, and lived in Belgium and Germany. Donna Horner participated in study abroad in France and is the chair of the board of the school she attended. The couple lives most of the year in Mexico.

Their gift will be managed by KU Endowment. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

Source: www.infozine.com

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 6:56 am and is filed under Education News, Scholarship. Tags: Education News, Scholarship, Student, Study, Study Abroad, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.