Centralight

No scholarship is too small. Senior Alyson Beland knows just how much $500 can mean when it comes to determining a career path. The public relations major from Dundee received an Integrative Public Relations Alumni Award to attend a PR conference in 2013. "I was in my junior year in college and going to that conference changed my perspective on what I wanted to do," Beland says. "It helped me take a broad idea and change it into reality." Beland thought she might want to pursue public relations for a nonprofi t organization, then decided corporate public relations was a better fi t for her. A few weeks after that conference, she learned about opportunities at The Dow Chemical Co., and today she's a co-op in public aff airs for Dow Elastomers, a business unit of Dow. That scholarship also introduced her to a new role model – the scholarship's creator, CMU alumna Anne Gaertner, '02. Gaertner Margaret "Ranny" Riecker lives on at CMU through the people she's helped and inspired. Rieker, who died last April, was a CMU trustee from 1974 until 1992. She initiated eff orts such as the Robert and Marjorie Griffi n Endowed Chair in American Government. In doing so, CMU is now able to expose students to political expertise by employing a government expert as a faculty member through that endowment. Riecker also provided fi nancial support to establish The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions, which opened in 2004. That's helping students become physician assistants, physical therapists and audiologists at CMU. Kathy Wilbur, vice president of development and external relations for CMU, remembers meeting Riecker in 1978. Wilbur had just started working on the campaign to re-elect CMU alumnus Robert Griffi n to the U.S Senate. What she saw in Riecker left a lasting impression. "Initially I was scared of her," Wilbur says. "But it didn't take me long to fi gure out that I liked and respected her. She was forthright and direct." Riecker's assertiveness helped her blast through the glass ceiling at the time. She expected a place at the table in what many considered a man's world. When Wilbur started working at CMU in 2002, she reconnected with Riecker, who was no longer a trustee but was still involved at CMU. "I learned … from watching Ranny over the years," Wilbur says. "I learned I can be at the table if I do it appropriately and that you really could have all of your worlds overlap and combine – you could be an accomplished woman, a wife, a mother, a leader, and be involved in higher education, politics and your community. It was all possible. Ranny did it all with intelligence, class and grace." • Big or small – leadership started the scholarship in 2011 to help two students each year attend the national public relations conference. The award is funded by contributions. "I was fortunate to receive scholarships, and it's my responsibility to ensure today's students have the same opportunity given to me," says Gaertner. "You don't have to wait until you're earning a salary north of $100,000 to reinvest in your alma mater." Beland says she remembers feeling both nervous and curious about meeting the person behind the scholarship. "I met her, and she was more than what I expected," says Beland. "She's done so much and created an image of herself that I want to be like. Anne gave her heart through the award to help someone further their education. I want to be that person who gives back." Beland expects to graduate in May and is applying for Dow's Public Aff airs and Government Aff airs Development Program. • alumni contributions leave a lasting impression A legacy of 29 centralight winter '14

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