The Dr. Diane Y. Petersen ’66 Endowed Scholarship supports students facing economic difficulties, so they can lighten their loans and have more time for learning.
For Dr. Diane Y. Petersen ’66, education is vital. Her mother firmly believed in its power, and Diane was one of the only members of her New Jersey high school class to leave the East Coast for a coed liberal arts college in Ohio.
She attended Ohio Wesleyan University on scholarship, working to cover additional costs. At OWU, Diane developed analytical and critical thinking skills that helped her thrive in her career as a head and neck surgeon—skills she still uses today in her volunteer leadership.
Now retired and focusing on volunteerism and philanthropy, Diane wants to give back to the place that contributed to her success. The Dr. Diane Y. Petersen ’66 Endowed Scholarship, a gift to the Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign, provides unrestricted support to students facing economic difficulties keeping them from completing their OWU education. Diane is using both a planned gift and a cash gift to finance her scholarship so students can receive it now.
Diane is especially passionate about reducing the cost of a college education and easing the debt burden of students, and endowing a scholarship at OWU always interested her. The yearly amount of money required for a contribution and potential unexpected expenses gave her pause, though—until a financial advisor introduced her to the IRA charitable rollover. With this option, Diane gives a cash gift each year through the required distribution in her IRA.
“It feels great to direct a portion of the money I’d be paying in taxes toward philanthropy,” she says. “Even better, now I know it’s easing a student’s burden and providing them with space for experiential learning instead of worrying about work and finances.”
Since Diane has OWU included in her estate plan, she is also a member of the Tower Society. She says other alumni looking to include OWU in their trust should talk to their financial advisor and plan how they want monies charitably allocated.
“The advice I’d give is, when you do your trust, really think about a percentage you would give to your preferred charity,” she says. “Hopefully, your charity is Ohio Wesleyan. I had no problem naming OWU!”
Ultimately, Diane hopes her scholarship makes OWU possible for a deserving student, particularly by lightening their loans and providing more time for learning.
“OWU is such a wonderful place,” she says. “It was the perfect fit for me, and I hope other students share a similar experience. The values taught and lived there give me an irreplaceable warm feeling about my alma mater—I’m thrilled to give back.”
Like Diane, you too can help reduce the cost of education at OWU by creating a new scholarship or contributing to existing scholarship funds. Please contact the Office of Gift Planning at 740-368-3043 or giftplanning@owu.edu to learn more.