Dr. Nancy Baird Graduate Student Award in Curriculum and Instruction Nancy Baird ’69 HHD, ’94 Ph.D. C I has pledged a bequest of $20,000 to establish the Dr. Nancy Baird Graduate Student Award in Curriculum and Instruction. The award supports graduate students pursuing degrees in Curriculum and Instruction who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement. Nancy has elected to early activate her award. To early activate a bequest, the donor agrees to provide annual support to be used for the purpose of the endowment. By choosing this option, Nancy will experience the impact of her gift during her lifetime, receiving letters from her award recipients and interacting with them at College events. Nancy’s passion for education at Penn State began with her parents, Leonard Baird ’41 AG and Anna Olson Baird ’41 HHD. Nancy’s mother was
a home economics major, but considered herself an educator and inspired three of her daughters to become teachers. When her husband passed away in 1996, Nancy’s mother established an endowment at Penn State to support undergraduate students in home economics and dairy husbandry in Nancy Baird alternating years.
“My commitment and desire to support organizations that are important to me is a family value that I learned from my parents,” said Nancy. “Being at Penn State helped me develop a sense of my identity, and that is an important gift that the University gave me. I have to give back.” Nancy’s career has included positions in public and higher education, banking,
and hospital administration. Throughout her career, Nancy has continued to rely on the philosophy and skills acquired at Penn State in the College of Education. Nancy is currently the Director of the Graduate Program in Professional Education at Notre Dame College in Cleveland, Ohio.
Nancy is also the vice president of the board of trustees for Court Community Service, which offers an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders, and the chair of public radio station WSKU’s Community Advisory Council. Since 2001, Nancy has also served as a consultant to the Cleveland Federal Community Leadership Institute, an annual leadership-training program for federal employees.
David H. Nicholson Graduate Fellowship in Adult Education and recognizes outstanding graduate students who have been admitted to Penn State as candidates for a graduate degree in Adult Education in the College of Education with a focus of study in adult or family literacy.
Eunice and Warren Askov
Distinguished Professor Emerita of Education Eunice “Nickie” Askov and her husband Warren H. Askov established the “David H. Nicholson Graduate Fellowship in Adult Education” with an outright gift in 2009. The cost for graduate education, however, continues to rise. Recognizing this challenge, Nickie and Warren have decided to document their intentions to augment their endowment with an estate gift. The endowment, which is named for Nickie’s father, supports
“We would love to see more students interested in the area of adult and family literacy,” said Nickie. “This scholarship will be able to help at least one student every year develop a passion for this kind of education.” Nickie is the former co-director of the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy. She was also the first Literacy Leader Fellow at the National Institute for Literacy in Washington, DC, carrying out research related to skill standards and workplace literacy. Nickie was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2004 and then into
the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame in 2007. She has researched and published extensively in adult, family, and workplace literacy. She led in the development of the first master’s degree (in adult education) offered by the Penn State World Campus and was instrumental in developing the Ph.D. in adult education at Penn State. Warren completed an M.Ed. and did additional graduate work in Human Development and Learning at the University of Wisconsin and certification in School Psychology in the College of Education at Penn State. He worked as a school psychologist with area schools and later directed reading and study skills in the Learning Assistance Center at Penn State. Nickie and Warren reside in State College. They have two children and four grandchildren.
Penn State Education
47