A new study abroad scholarship fund will enable more College of Humanities students to experience global cultures while gaining valuable skills for their future careers.
A new $125,000 gift will create the Donna Dillon Manning and Larry Horner Endowed Humanities Award for Study Abroad, providing support for study abroad for full-time College of Humanities undergraduate students.
Manning said she made the gift after working with Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, through their service together on the board of the American College of the Mediterranean. When she was an undergraduate, Manning attended ACM’s affiliated study abroad Institute for American Universities and is a longtime trustee of the school.
Since enrolling its first class in 1957, IAU has served as a center for education abroad for U.S. undergraduates and for more than 25 years, University of Arizona students have attended IAU’s programs in Aix-en-Provence, France and more recently, Barcelona, Spain.
Manning said the year she spent in France as an undergraduate was an incredibly formative part of her own college experience and something that she is grateful to be able to help others to experience.
“That year in France had a tremendous impact on my life to this very day. It was a spectacular year which is true for most of the students who have had the opportunity to study in another country,” she said. “Anyone exposed to different cultures and different ways of thinking can learn from those differences and be curious about them, which is so important.”
The gift to the University of Arizona is among several that Manning and Horner have made, including scholarships established at each of their alma mater institutions, Westmont College and the University of Kansas, respectively. Manning said an additional reason for her interest in UArizona is that one of the sons of her late husband and three of his grandchildren have attended the university, two of whom are presently students.
All College of Humanities majors will be eligible to apply for the scholarship, which will award two students $2,500 each for study abroad.
“This gift will create opportunities for life-changing experiences for our College of Humanities students, opening up new parts of the world where they can learn and be active participants in global cultural exchange,” Durand said. “We are exceptionally grateful to Donna for this generous donation and the incredible impact it will have on students for years and years to come.”