The Gift of Education
Donors Chris MA ’70 (Music) and Fred Johnson are no strangers to giving. In 2016 they created the William Clarency, Jr. and Mary Irene Chesney Scholarship Fund in honor of Chris’s mother, who was a passionate arts enthusiast.
When planning their latest gift, they originally intended to create a new scholarship that would support students who plan to become public educators; Chris spent her career as a public school teacher in Eugene’s 4J school district.
However, when they learned more about The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, they decided to direct 100% of their estate to the Knight Undergraduate Scholars and Bioengineering PhD Student Fellows program. They wanted to have an impact on the UO’s progress in the field of translational science. “[The Knight Campus] seems so innovative,” Chris commented. “The things they are doing here seem like science fiction to me. Yet, it IS real, and we need more bright students in our country doing this work.”
Fred agreed, “My degree is in industrial engineering; I’m impressed with the bioengineering programs, and when I learned about the collaboration with Oregon State University, I felt this was the right investment to make.”
Both Chris and Fred were instilled with the importance of education. And giving back.
“It’s important to give back what someone gave to you.” Chris stated. “Somebody believed in me and gave me a scholarship, and I think education is so important. It was my life for over 40 years.”
They both had parents who stressed the importance of education and helped them achieve their academic goals no matter what financial setbacks they encountered. Fred noted, “We want to help students do the same thing.”
Chris interrupted (as couples who have been married 56 years often do), “and we want them to hang in there despite difficulties. They need to follow their passion.”
When asked what specific challenges they would like the Knight Campus students to conquer, Chris quickly responded, “all of them!”