Don Steele Endows Scholarship to Honor His Parents and Provide “Transformative Experiences” at EKU

Donald E. Steele ’72 always knew that he would go to college. “Neither of my parents graduated from high school,” Don shares. “But despite their lack of formal education, they reared me with the implicit understanding that I was going to somehow go to college. Period. No question.”

Don worked full-time during summer breaks, banking the money to pay for the next year. After his junior year he had an opportunity for a summer research program. “I realized that if I did it, I wouldn’t be able to work the entire summer to earn the money for senior year,” Don says. His parents were able to provide the money he needed to finish his degree.

The first in his family to graduate from college, Don received his B.S. in chemistry and went on to what he calls “a world of diverse opportunities”: quality assurance director in meat processing, laboratory director for two analytical labs, and environmental specialist for the State of Florida for the past 12 years. In thanks for all that EKU has given him, Don is giving back with a gift of mutual fund shares to create the Richard and Mary Steele Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the EKU College of Science.

“I chose this type of gift because of the ability to transfer pre-tax dollars and for the deduction I am able to take,” Don says. “I like to think that there will always be money available for Kentucky high school graduates majoring in chemistry to help them out and that they will know it’s because of my parents, who made my education possible.

“This scholarship is a way for me to honor my parents and allow others to share the transformative summer experiences that I had as an undergraduate student at Eastern Kentucky University.”