By Alanna Henderson '18
Grateful for his time at OWU, Daly Walker '62 made a gift that will ensure other students have the same opportunity for a liberal arts education that he had.
In high school, Daly Walker '62 originally came to Ohio Wesleyan's campus with the intent of visiting his sister, who was already a student there. Little did he realize, he was visiting the right college for him, too. "I felt very comfortable [there], I liked the friendliness…the small town and having my sister there was very appealing."
He knew he wanted to study pre-medicine and that Ohio Wesleyan had a strong record of producing graduates who would go on to become physicians. But he also came from a family that loved books. His mother was a high school English teacher and his sister would go on to teach English at the college level. Ohio Wesleyan was a place where Daly could pursue both his pre-medicine track and also embrace the full array of liberal arts offerings, including English and the humanities.
Daly feels that, in addition to the rigorous science coursework, the humanities classes he took at Ohio Wesleyan helped to inform how he viewed working with patients as a physician. "My humanities education was vital in shaping the way I think about things and filtered down to how I think about patient care."
His liberal arts education continued to shape his career long after graduation. After a successful career as a surgeon, Daly revisited his love of literature and writing, authoring many short stories that have appeared in numerous literary magazines and a book of his collected work.
In gratitude for the education he received at Ohio Wesleyan, Daly has included the University in his estate plan, for an endowment to enhance the pre-medicine program. He hopes his support will continue the University's pre-medicine legacy and will provide future students the opportunity to prepare for a career in medicine within a liberal arts setting.
"I think there's a matter of returning what's been given to you, and I feel Ohio Wesleyan gave a lot to my life. I'd like to give something back to the school and allow other students to have the opportunity to get a liberal arts education like I had."
To learn more about supporting future OWU students like Daly Walker has, contact the Office of Gift Planning at 740-368-3043 or giftplanning@owu.edu.