In honor and memory of Dr. Louise Rintelmann Thompson (Class of ’60), Louise’s husband Dr. Raymond Thompson (Class of ’61) has established two funds through a major gift that will provide scholarship and program funds for years to come. Through donations of $100,000 to each, Dr. Thompson has set up the Louise Rintelmann Thompson “I Believe in You” Scholarship Fund and the Thompson Program Support Fund.

The Scholarship Fund will focus on a junior college student transferring to a four-year program with the stipulation that the student must be enrolling as a residential student to garner the full experience that Ray and his late wife encountered as students at MacMurray, where they met. The Program Support Fund may be used for the key programs of the Foundation (Museum/Archives, Scholarship, Alumni Activities).

Through an agreement between Ray and the Foundation funds will be invested with earnings and dividends used to make annual distributions from both funds for their specified intent.

In creating the scholarship and making the donation, Dr. Thompson stated “I am creating this scholarship to keep my wonderful, gifted, much loved, much missed wife’s ‘I believe in you’ message alive. It changed my life. I hope it helps scholarship awardees find their future.”

In acknowledging the gift Foundation Chair David Ekin noted “This gift recognizes and symbolically honors the lifelong love Dr. Thompsons and his wife enjoyed for over 50 years, beginning as young students at MacMurray College. The Louise Rintelmann Thompson scholarship ‘I Believe in You’ title comes directly from her use of the term and speaks to the impact she had on Ray and so many others throughout her life and career.”