$3 million gift from The Davee Foundation to support English & history scholarships
The gift will cover costs for gifted undergraduate students with high levels of financial need
The $3 million endowment will be the final gift from The Davee Foundation, which closes at the end of the year. The gift supports scholarships that align with the interests and careers of the two women who oversaw it from its founding in 1964 to 2011.
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Astrida Orle Tantillo commented that the Davee endowment will allow “talented students in English and history...to pursue their academic passions free of financial hardship."
The terms of the endowment require at least two Chicago students to be selected each year, one in each discipline, to have all costs covered. The scholarships are renewable for up to five years as long as the student maintains a 3.0 GPA. Recipients will be announced in March at the annual UIC scholarship luncheon.
As reported in UIC Today, "After earning a master’s degree in history, Adeline Barry Davee’s career involved raising money for scholarships at her alma mater Flora Stone Mather College before exploring her interest in operational and historical records through archivist positions with the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the U.S. Navy. She married businessman Ken Davee shortly after World War II and joined him at his market research firm Davee, Koehnlein and Keating Company as vice president.
"In 1964 the couple founded The Davee Foundation, which demonstrated a Chicago-centric philanthropic commitment in its support of a wide variety of cultural, scientific, public affairs and educational entities. Adeline remained on the foundation’s board until she passed away in 1987.
"Ruth Dunbar Davee, who married Ken in 1988, graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree in English. With a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, she went on to become a professor at several universities and a journalist at the Chicago Sun-Times, where she originated the position of education editor.
"As a member of The Davee Foundation’s board, she oversaw major philanthropic efforts in the Chicago area and particularly those in support of educational causes, including UIC’s mission of access and opportunity in higher education. Ruth Dunbar Davee served as president of The Davee Foundation upon the death of Ken in 1998 and led the organization until her death in 2011."