Chip Strong
As a fan of Bearcat athletics, the late Frank "Chip" Strong, Jr. '73 loved watching and supporting the men's basketball team. But even more important to Strong than how many conference championships the Bearcats had was how many young men walked across the stage at graduation. Strong's main concern was that once student-athletes completed their eligibility, they stay in school and earn a degree.
Strong's family and friends have taken action to help this vision become a reality for former student-athletes when it otherwise may not be an option. Upon Strong's death in October 2006, his daughter Allison Strong Hoffman '01, '03, and long-time friend and business partner, Dr. John Baker, established the Chip Strong Memorial Scholarship to assist men's basketball players who have not yet completed their degrees but have used all of their athletic eligibility.
Strong's affiliation with Northwest ran much deeper than being an avid sports fan. His first encounter with Northwest came when he was a student at Horace Mann Laboratory School, which he attended through seventh grade. After graduating from Maryville High School in 1969, he spent a year at the University of Missouri - Columbia before transferring to Northwest, earning a bachelor's degree with honors in 1973. He became an attorney in Maryville and served Northwest in several capacities, including being president of the Bearcat Booster Club, vice president of the Northwest's Board of Regents and a member of the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors.
Scholarships associated with Chip Strong