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Support the Department

See Also: ‘Give to UT’ Page

Your gifts make a difference! Over the years, we have been fortunate to receive generous donations from a variety of supporters, including former graduates, corporate sponsors, and philanthropists. These gifts keep the donors involved in the mission of the BCMB department: to provide a high quality, scholarly educational experience for our undergraduate and graduate majors that prepares them for a wide variety of career options, to promote science awareness and literacy in the broader community, and to advance scientific knowledge through our research efforts.

These gifts have made it possible for us to offer undergraduate scholarships. Some gifts sponsor graduate fellowships that support dissertation research on cutting-edge topics in modern biology. Other donations have been used for Research Incentive Awards to faculty who propose pilot projects that promise to lead to extramural grant funding from national agencies. Our generous donors have made all of these things possible. Interested parties may contribute to the department’s general BCMB Enrichment Fund or to more specialized funds.

Unrestricted Funds

The BCMB Enrichment Fund is for unrestricted gifts. This fund allows the department to put money into its mission in a wide variety of ways. Immediate needs can be met, and long-term planning strategies can also be considered. Our Annual Fund campaign will be targeted to this fund, with two areas of high priority:

  1. Sponsoring undergraduate research
  2. Research Incentive Grants for Faculty and Postdoctoral Researchers

Restricted Funds

The department also has specific funds that support undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and faculty research. Donations can be made to any of these restricted funds. They include:

  • The Tyler Duke Foundation Scholarship has been established in memory of a talented BCMB major, Tyler Duke. This scholarship recognizes an outstanding BCMB undergraduate major who intends to attend pharmacy school after graduation from UT.
  • The Emmette and Nannie Hale Memorial Fund provides scholarships for students majoring in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology and known to be pursuing postgraduate professional education/training in dentistry.
  • The Ray Holton Fund was established to support plant sciences at the University of Tennessee. Among other things, this fund supports two (2) yearly awards to two outstanding graduate students working on plant science research.
  • The Lizzie Howell Graduate Fund has been established by her family in memory of Elizabeth Howell a long time faculty member in BCMB.. This award has been developed to help support professional development to current graduate students in the BCMB department.
  • The Robert and Nell Keenan Memorial Fund is used to support a fellowship for an outstanding graduate student in BCMB. Preference is given to students from Davidson, Warren, or Williamson County, Tennessee.
  • The W. Sherman Kouns Memorial Fund was established to support graduate student education and research in the BCMB Department. This fund supports an annual award that recognizes outstanding teaching by a graduate student.

How Can You Get Involved?

There are many different forms of gifts that can be made. We receive sums ranging from $5 to $10,000 that are made as one-time gifts to our BCMB enrichment fund. With a contribution of $25,000 or more, an endowment can be established for which the principal is invested and interest earned becomes available for departmental use. You may also consider a bequest, a life income gift, or a gift from your retirement plan to the department through planned giving. Endowments can be specified for use according to the donors’ wishes. All of the gifts to BCMB are coordinated through the development officials at UT, and appropriate tax benefits are always considered. If you wish to donate to the department please make your check payable to the University of Tennessee BCMB Department. Please indicate that the check is for the BCMB Enrichment Fund (for unrestricted use by the Department) or for one of the Restricted Funds listed above and mail it to the address below.

University of Tennessee
Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology
309 Ken and Blair Mossman Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996-1939

For more information about gift giving to BCMB, please contact the Department Head, Dr. Gladys Alexandre (galexan2@utk.edu) or Christopher Cox, Director of Development (ccox@utfi.org, 974-2365).

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