Truman Receives $3.44 Million Estate Gift to Establish Scholarship Program
Lyle Ingraham
A $3.44 million gift, the largest in University history, has been received from the estate of Lyle Ingraham to create a scholarship program at Truman State University.
The Lyle Ingraham Scholarship Fund is designed to assist students with financial need to attain a Truman State University education. The program will provide an estimated $120,000 in scholarship resources each year. According to scholarship guidelines, the maximum annual award per student is $4,000, with at least 30 students benefiting from the fund annually.
"Truman State University is grateful to Lyle Ingraham for his foresight and generosity in establishing this magnificent scholarship program," said University President Barbara Dixon. "Need-based scholarships are among our top priorities, and keeping a Truman education within the reach of students with financial need is important to our future. This program will have tremendous impact on students for generations."
A native of Green Castle, Mo., Ingraham graduated from Browning High School in 1923. He attended Kirksville Normal School, now Truman State University, following high school, and began his career as a school teacher in Sullivan County.
He later enrolled at Chillicothe Business College and began a lengthy career in the community banking industry at Citizens Bank in Browning, Mo. Ingraham served as the bank's president and chief executive officer, and also managed insurance, farming and cattle enterprises.
He retired in 1976 and moved to Kansas City. Ingraham passed away on July 3, 2005, at the age of 99.
The estate gift will provide a significant boost to the Truman State University Foundation's scholarship program, adding more than one-third in additional resources for the 2006-2007 academic year. An estimated $440,000 will be awarded to Truman students from Foundation scholarships next year.
Truman State University President Barbara Dixon welcomed William E. Young, Chairman, Citizens Bank and Trust, Chillicothe, to campus recently to discuss a $3.44 million estate gift from the late Lyle Ingraham. The gift will create Truman's largest Foundation scholarship program, expected to generate at least $120,000 annually for need-based scholarships. Young was a family friend of Ingraham, who attended Kirksville Normal School in the mid-1920s.
