A bipartisan group of six notable Tennesseans have pledged $500,000 apiece to fund four-year undergraduate scholarships at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs .
The $3 million gift will support six named scholarships for four years of study at the school and is designed to prepare future generations of leaders in government, public policy and public service.
The donors:
- Al Gore, 45th U.S. vice president, former U.S. senator and U.S. representative from Tennessee, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient
- Lamar Alexander, former governor and U.S. senator from Tennessee, former U.S. secretary of education and former University of Tennessee System president
- Natalie Haslam, philanthropist
- James A. Haslam II, Pilot Company founder, philanthropist and Baker School board chair
- Heath Shuler, former U.S. congressman, and his wife, Nikol Shuler
- Bill Powers, Tennessee state senator and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Howard H. Baker, and his wife, Fran Powers
“Strengthening civic health and restoring faith in our institutions is a critical part of our programming, curriculum and outreach at the Baker School,” Marianne Wanamaker, dean of the Baker School, said in a news release. “The significant investment to create these endowed scholarships will ensure the state’s flagship land-grant university continues to produce leaders who are capable of navigating tomorrow’s challenges.”…