Endowed Scholarships Honor a Family Legacy of Service
A Sweet Investment in the Future
Sweet Candy Company celebrates 101 endowed scholarships
1 7 2 8 4 9 6
From Setbacks to Scholarships
One alum’s resilience empowers countless future scholars
Filling
the Gaps
Endowment support empowers curators at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to build and preserve the museum’s permanent collection
Quagliana Fellows
Department of Internal Medicine celebrates a legacy 90 years in the making
Fostering Dialogue
The Cowen–Mayden endowed lectureships will promote the intersection of technology and humanistic medicine for many years to come
“College town magic.”
These three words capture our vision at the University of Utah as we transition from our commuterschool past into a vibrant, 24/7 university. We’re building an environment where every student can discover their potential and achieve their ambitions. Through our investments in innovative housing, student-centered initiatives, and engagement opportunities, we’re turning this vision into reality, creating purpose-built communities that drive connection, collaboration, and success.
This progress would not be possible without the unwavering support of individuals like you who believe in the University of Utah’s future. By investing in our endowment, you’re helping us reach new heights, enrich the student experience, and solidify our role as a leading research institution.
In these pages, you’ll see the powerful impact endowments have on our entire community—students, faculty, staff, and even benefactors. Woven together, they tell a story of futures made brighter because of the U and lives made better because ofyour generosity.
The future of the University of Utah has never looked more optimistic, and your partnership plays a crucial role in realizing our “college town magic” vision. Thank you for being a key part of building a university that inspires innovation and service to our state and nation.
Sincerely,
Taylor Randall, HBA ’90, PhD President, University of Utah
CARRYING THEIR BEST FORWARD
ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS HONOR
A FAMILY LEGACY OF SERVICE
BY AUTUMN THATCHER
There is an air of reverence and a hint of overwhelm when Kenneth “Ken” Okazaki, BS ’78, JD ’82, is asked to reflect on the lives of his parents, Edward “Eddy,” MSW ’52, and Chieko Okazaki. Where does one begin with a legacy so vast?
Eddy was a decorated veteran, he served with the US Army 442 Regimental Combat Team in World War II and received the Purple Heart and Silver Star for his bravery and valor. Chieko earned global recognition through her appointment as First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the 1960s, she was a member of the Young Women general board and was the first person of color to serve in a General Organization presidency.
The couple met while attending college at the University of
Hawaii. Eddy was passionate about social work, and Chieko had her sights set on education. Chieko joined the Church at 15 and, after their marriage, Eddy followed suit. Shortly after WWII, they moved to Utah, where Eddy began working toward a master’s degree in social work at the University of Utah. During this time, Chieko, who had earned her master’s degree from Colorado State, taught at Uintah Elementary School while supporting her husband’s studies. Eddy and Chieko had intended to return to Hawaii after Eddy completed his master’s degree, but Utah became their home. They immersed themselves in the local community despite facing continual discrimination for being Japanese Americans in the post-WWII era. Ken relates that when his parents tried to buy property to build their first home, they discovered that the land they wanted to build upon carried
a prohibition against selling to a Japanese person.
The couple’s commitment to their community and values was a core component of who they were. Throughout their lives, the Okazakis were determined to follow through on what they felt was right regardless of what it might cost them. They met every challenge with quiet resolve.
Ken grew up alongside his brother, Robert, watching Eddy and Chieko in their relentless pursuit of serving others. Eddy remained passionate about working with older populations as a social worker, and Chieko continued to advocate for children in her religious and professional positions.
“My parents’ lives were always for somebody else and not themselves. They were always doing so many things,” Ken recalls. “They were always tired. They left us with an appreciation for hard work and a vision and direction of what things should be,” Ken says. “What my generation can add is a little bit of money to help others move down the path they started.”
Ken spent his years at the U immersed in his educational goals, studying and working hard to earn a bachelor’s and then a law degree to pursue a thriving career. He says he didn’t necessarily understand his parents’ choices as he watched them sacrifice so much of their time. But he has gained a wizened perspective and understanding over the years since his parents passed.
“When people die, you have a lot of regrets,” Ken says. “The only way to deal with regret is to do something positive. I think, what would Mom do? What would Dad do? What sort of example should I be for Kenzo moving forward?”
space for the community where portraits of Eddy and Chieko adorn the walls.
“That room is in honor of them because they were always about community, inclusion, and different people,” Ken says. “They had a belief in other people.”
Ken carries this belief forward through the hope he finds in future generations—beginning with his son. With graduate degrees from Cambridge and Oxford, and now a law student at Columbia University, Kenzo has a deep appreciation for his grandparents. Eddy passed away before Kenzo was born, but his Purple Heart, Silver Star, and many other honorable military decorations hang on the walls of Kenzo’s bedroom at home. Chieko, whom Kenzo has fond memories of learning from throughout his childhood, instilled in her grandson a deep appreciation for their Japanese American heritage, a love for reading and learning, and a desire to serve and connect with others.
Kenzo has funded two scholarships for undergraduate students in social work.
“They had a belief in other people.”
The only answer that made sense to Ken was to use his resources to carry forward his parents' values. This resolve manifested in establishing endowments in their names in the College of Social Work.
Ken and his wife, Kelle, BS ’85, and their son, Kenzo, created the Edward Yukio Okazaki Memorial Award Endowment in the College of Social Work. The scholarship is awarded to high-achieving students committed to gerontology.
The family established the Chieko Nishimura Okazaki Endowed Scholarship for Elementary School-Based Social Work to help defray educational costs for students earning a master of social work and who are focusing on elementarybased social work and careers in elementary school settings.
Ken also donated his mother’s journals and diaries to the Marriott Library under the condition that Brigham Young University and the Church could image the papers. And they, with friends, named the Edward Yukio and Chieko Okazaki Community Meeting Room, a room that is used as a meeting
“It is essential to contribute to the work that they cared about because it’s what they’re remembered for,” Kenzo says. “It’s keeping their values alive— the belief in something beyond yourself.”
Kenzo often reads Chieko’s diaries at the Marriott Library when he is home.
Kenzo and his father agree that they are inspired by the belief in a bigger purpose they see in the work of the scholarship recipients—so much so that when Kenzo was awarded the Middlebury College Public Service Leadership Alumni Award, he directed the funds to support undergraduate students in the College of Social Work at the U.
“I make a lot of decisions based on how to emulate the structure of doing something that speaks to the broader values that guide our family—and I’m fairly conscious of the fact that I come up short,” Kenzo says. “But, at the bare minimum, it’s doing what you can for people when you’re poised to do it.”
When Ken looks at what students in the College of Social Work aim to do, at how they often selflessly pursue career paths that serve others with little in the way of financial reward and support, he thinks of his parents, and he is adamant that it is the least he can do.
“The people that get these awards and scholarships, they’re never going to make a lot of money. The only reason they’re doing it is for the pure purpose of making other people’s lives better,” Ken says. “What we can do is help them with their mission, and endowments are a way to continue that. So now I guess we better do another one—that is what Eddy and Chieko would do.”
“There is no better way to empower people ... than through education.”
—Rachel Sweet, MBA ’98
101 SCHOLARSHIPS
A Sweet Investment in the Future
Sweet Candy Company celebrates 101 endowed scholarships awarded
BY AUDREY MAYNARD
When Rachel Sweet, MBA ’98, reflects on the values that guide her family’s business, Sweet Candy Company, she credits her grandmother, Corinne, for instilling a strong ethos of community engagement and giving back.
“My grandmother was definitely the matriarch and the community-minded voice on our board,” Rachel says. “So, when we make our decisions annually about our corporate giving, we always invoke her and what she would want us to do.”
Corinne Sweet was a staunch advocate for literacy, and she believed education was the pathway to personal empowerment. In 1988, she and her husband, Jack, were taking a walk with Chase Peterson, their good friend and then-University of Utah president, and listened to his vision for the university’s nascent Honors program.
The discussion inspired Corinne and Jack, and they donated $350,000 to establish the Sweet Candy Company Honors Program Endowment, providing scholarship aid to undergraduate students who demonstrated good character, intellectual ability, breadth of interest, and seriousness of purpose, as well as awarding an annual faculty prize for excellence in teaching
Since its inception 35 years ago, the Sweet Candy Company Honors Program Endowment has grown to provide scholarships to eight undergraduate students annually. In fact, the U’s Honors College awarded its 101st Sweet Candy Company endowed scholarship in 2024.
“One hundred and one scholarships—that’s quite a feat,” Rachel says. “Unfortunately, higher education is often considered a privilege, but I wish it were considered more of a right. There is no better way to empower people and help them change out of their life’s place than through education.”
Merrin Maughan, a junior in the Honors College pursuing a degree in biology, always knew she wanted to earn a degree in science. But she was also passionate about many other subjects, including history, art, and creative writing. The
Honors College has given Merrin the latitude to explore her intellectual curiosities and integrate what she learns across academic disciplines.
“The Honors College has helped me stretch my education beyond my major, which is really the purpose of the college,” Merrin notes. “Students are encouraged to interrogate the world around us—what we read, what we’re told, and what we see. It’s what a good scholar and critical thinker does.”
As the 101st student to receive a Sweet Candy Company Scholarship, Merrin credits the financial support she has received as a Sweet Candy Company scholar for her ability to pursue learning opportunities that have enriched her education beyond the classroom. Over the past three years, Merrin has served as a peer mentor for first-year students in the Honors College, a student government assembly representative for the College of Science, and a research assistant in the School of Biological Sciences—all pivotal experiences on her journey to medical school.
“You really have to get involved early on in your college career to cultivate your community and find your place on campus,” she says. “Scholarships have made it possible for me to seek out opportunities that have helped me understand where I fit at the university. I know that’s a very privileged position to be in, and I don’t take it for granted. I always try to make the most of what I’m given and get involved in any way possible.”
It’s this level of student involvement and intellectual engagement that excites Rachel about the future of the Honors College and its graduates. In a time when information is increasingly siloed and curated, she believes the community and collaboration fostered within the college will prepare students to tackle the toughest challenges facing society.
“I can’t believe the caliber of the students in the Honors College, and many of them are the first in their family to go to college,” Rachel says. “These students represent our future, and we are relying on them to learn how to work and speak with each other and find solutions to the myriad of complex problems facing us all. If our support helps in any way to make this outcome a possibility, then we’re just happy to be able to do it.”
Merrin Maughan is the 101st Honors student to receive a Sweet Candy Company Scholarship.
Fostering Dialogue
The Cowen–Mayden endowed lectureships will promote the intersection of technology and humanistic medicine for many years to come
BY AUDREY MAYNARD
Priscilla Mayden was nothing short of a force as the first director of the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (EHSL). When she assumed this role in 1971, she focused her efforts on consolidating the University of Utah’s vast biomedical collections into a repository for students, faculty, and physicians. Undoubtedly, her lasting contribution to the university was fostering a culture within the library that embraced technology for the advancement of medical science.
“Priscilla was someone who was very forward-looking,” says Catherine Soehner, EHSL’s current director. “In the seventies and eighties, computers were just beginning to be something you might find on someone’s desk. But she understood the power of technology, and she always pushed to connect the latest innovations back to the library.”
When Priscilla announced her retirement from the university in 1984, her colleagues in the School of Medicine secretly raised funds to honor her through an endowed award that recognized individuals on campus who made positive contributions to information science. Over time, the Priscilla M. Mayden Endowed Award for Contributions in Library Science evolved into an annual lectureship that featured experts on technology and its benefits to library science and medical professions more broadly.
independently of one another until about five years ago. Over lunch one day, Catherine and her colleague Gretchen Case, director of the university’s Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities, realized their areas had endowments with very similar purposes. They imagined the impact they could make if they collaborated on a joint lectureship. The endowment funds would remain separate, but income from the two funds could bring nationally renowned lecturers to the U—all in honor of Max and Priscilla.
Unbeknownst to those establishing the endowment in honor of Priscilla, an endowment for a similar use was being created in the School of Medicine. The Max P. Cowan Endowment was established by Sara Lee Cowan in memory of her late husband, Max, in 1979. Active in the livestock business, Max once served as director of the National Livestock Association. Although his professional expertise was in ranching, his and Sara’s many shared interests included medical ethics and the humanistic practice of medicine.
The two endowments funded lectureships and programming
In 2020, the first Cowan–Mayden Lecture was presented at the U. Invited lecturers have presented on topics including the social and clinical inequities impacting American health care; Alzheimer’s disease and the promise of science, technology, and philosophy in treating it; and the influence of race and politics in health outcomes during the pandemic. The lectureship provides opportunities for audiences to engage with the invited lecturer through the Department of Internal Medicine’s Grand Rounds and a group ethics discussion or a public lecture— all offered in a hybrid in-person/virtual format.
“We have always tried to focus on what is important today in health sciences and, fortuitously, this lectureship now incorporates a humanities flair,” Catherine says. “We want our health care professionals to be humanistic in their thinking so that they can better weigh the impact their decisions have on patients’ lives, beyond what might be a physical or chemical issue.”
According to Catherine, the creativity and collaboration that resulted in the Cowan–Mayden Lecture are the exact qualities that guided Priscilla Mayden’s leadership of the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library.
“Priscilla is still very much in our minds when we make plans for the library,” she says. “I often think, ‘Oh, Priscilla, what would you think of this?’ and, ultimately, I believe she would be very proud of what we have done to honor her legacy.”
Jason Karawish, MD, and Keisha Ray, PhD, are previous Cowan–Mayden Lecturers
From Setbacks to Scholarships
One alum’s resilience empowers countless future scholars
BY ANN MORSE, JD, AND AUTUMN THATCHER
Jennifer “Jen” McGrath, BS ’10, MPA ’18, MLS ’23, was determined to build a new life for herself. She had recently divorced, lost her job and home due to the great recession, and relocated to her parents’ basement—a move she had not planned on making. As Jen mapped out a new future, she wanted to ensure she would never experience that instability again. So, she enrolled as a non-traditional student at the University of Utah. Jen double-majored in urban planning and political science and then went on to earn master’s degrees in real estate development, public administration, and legal studies.
As a result of her education, Jen has had a fulfilling career in public service—and she can confidently do one of the things she loves best: plan. Jen is proud of the path to success she forged for herself. Now, she wants to help first-year students at the U write their chapters for what comes next in their lives.
“The education I received at the University of Utah helped me not only get my life back on track, but it allowed me to thrive,” Jen says. “I want to help students who might find themselves in a
situation where they, too, need to re-think the life they imagined for themselves—and being able to pursue their education could make all the difference.”
To do this, Jen created a gift in her estate plan to fund the Jennifer McGrath Endowed Scholarship for ACCESS Program Scholars in the College of Science. ACCESS is a first-year community, research, and scholarship program for students in STEM disciplines.
“I planned my estate to enable others to benefit from the gift of education and get started on their own paths to success,” Jen says. “It gives me incredible joy to know that others may have opportunities otherwise unavailable to them as a result of my privilege.”
Inspired by their daughter’s perseverance and generosity, Jen’s parents decided to make a provision in their estate plan to benefit her scholarship—leaving a legacy of support for many generations to come.
Visit utah.giftplans.org to learn more about Legacy Gifts.
Jen McGrath, BS ’10, MPA ’18, MLS ’23 (middle), and her parents support future students through the Jennifer McGrath Endowed Scholarship for ACCESS Program Scholars in the College of Science.
Filling in the Gaps
Endowment support empowers curators at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to build and preserve the museum’s permanent collection
BY AUDREY MAYNARD
Since Alisa McCusker joined the University of Utah as senior curator for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) two years ago, she has spent much of her time getting to know the museum’s collection—its breadth, its strengths, and, most importantly, where its gaps lie.
As the state’s and university’s art museum, the UMFA showcases the span of human history and creativity through more than 21,000 original works of art, from the ancient to the contemporary. Since only 3%–5% of the museum’s collection can be on display to the public at any given time, it’s incumbent upon Alisa and her team to curate a collection with a broad global and historical representation for teaching and research purposes.
“We have to be really strategic about what we acquire, just in terms of space,” she says. “But we also strive to be much more deliberate and thorough in identifying where the actual gaps are in our collection so that we can capitalize on opportunities that enhance our holdings.”
When organizing the UMFA’s latest temporary exhibition Blue Grass, Green Skies: American Impressionism and Realism from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Alisa realized the museum had a need to fill from this period of American painting in its own permanent collection. She decided to use funds that had accumulated from the Helene Druke Shaw Endowment for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to acquire a portrait by a female American impressionist to be debuted next spring.
Helene Druke Shaw, MEd ’31, studied elementary education teaching at the U. She and her husband, Walter, were deeply involved in the arts. They toured throughout Europe and the United States for more than 10 years as a piano-duo and, after returning to Utah, Helene owned and operated a dance studio. A gallery at the UMFA is named in her honor, and
she also established Helene Druke Shaw Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship Fund in the College of Nursing.
“The beauty of endowments like Helene Druke Shaw’s is that they do not restrict us to acquiring art from a certain time period, like modern and contemporary,” she said. “Instead, we are able to expand our collection to represent works by people of color and women, for example, whose contributions to art have historically been undervalued.”
And while art acquisition is one of the most exciting and joyful aspects of her job, Alisa is quick to recognize the importance of endowments in providing critical funding for art conservation, museum operations, and educational programming and outreach.
“Our primary goal is to preserve precious works of art so that people can enjoy them for generations to come,” she says. “Art and culture are vital to our sense of balance and well-being, so we want all people to feel welcome and recognize something about themselves when they visit the museum.”
To Alisa, endowments represent a gift to the future, and she is grateful to the UMFA’s philanthropic partners for entrusting the museum with their investment.
“Their generosity frees us up to think deeply and collaboratively about what we want the museum to be and how we want it to grow,” she says. “People have placed an incredible
Alisa McCusker, senior curator for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Louise Howland King Cox, Blue and White, 1904, oil on canvas. From the permanent collection of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, purchased with funds from the Helene Druke Shaw Endowment.
A Jolly Good Fellow
Department of Internal Medicine celebrates a legacy 90 years in the making
BY AUDREY MAYNARD
In May 2024, the Department of Internal Medicine at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine came together to celebrate the 90th birthday of Joseph M. Quagliana, MD, who served as an associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah from 1968 to 1974. Joseph established the university’s first medical oncology division and built the clinical oncology fellowship training program that led to University of Utah Hospital becoming a cancer-patient referral center.
At his birthday celebration, Joseph was presented with a personalized book detailing the impact he has made on the university community—students, patients, colleagues, and friends—over the past six decades.
“This milestone does not simply mark the passage of time, it salutes Dr. Quagliana’s legacy as a clinician, educator, and researcher, as well as the many successes he has achieved throughout his distinguished career,” says John Inadomi, MD, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.
Joseph cemented his legacy at the U by establishing two endowments: the Joseph M. Quagliana, MD, Endowed Lectureship in Internal Medicine and the Joseph M. Quagliana, MD, and Paula Quagliana Endowed Research Fellowship Award. Past recipients of the fellowship are pursuing careers as researchers and clinicians at institutions nationwide, including the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Huntsman Cancer Institute.
“To
be named a Quagliana Fellow is a distinct honor, and I know that those who have earned this recognition are deeply grateful for Dr. Quagliana’s belief in their promise and potential.”
—John
Inadomi, MD, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine
Clinical fellows 1963–1964 (from left): Martin Cline, Marvin Lewis, John Marsh, Joseph Quagliana (seated), and A. Sherman Hill
