Phyllis Combs Leet
The Leets began their lives together at Northwest, having met in a chemistry lab course. Dr. Richard "Dick" Leet, who grew up in Maryville, attended kindergarten at the laboratory school when it was housed in the Administration Building during the early 1930s and completed his chemistry degree at Northwest in 1948. Mrs. Leet, a Princeton native, completed her vocational home economics degree at Northwest in 1949 and then worked to put Dr. Leet through graduate school at The Ohio State University. Dr. Leet went on to build a successful career at Amoco Corporation and retired in 1991 as vice chairman and director.
The Leets have been steadfast in their commitment to Northwest and began investing in the University's mission in the 1980s when Mrs. Leet gave funds for a capital project at Horace Mann that provided adequate space for the kindergarten program. In 1988, the Phyllis Combs Leet Scholarship Fund was created for entering freshmen in the family and consumer sciences program. Dr. Leet, with Northwest chemistry alumni, also helped establish a scholarship named for his mentor, J. Gordon Strong.
Additionally, Dr. Leet was volunteer chairman of Northwest's successful inaugural capital campaign during the early 2000s. Both Dr. and Mrs. Leet served on the board of the Northwest Foundation, and, in 2005, Mrs. Leet led the creation of the unique centennial sculpture located in the east plaza of the J.W. Jones Student Union.
Scholarships associated with Phyllis Combs Leet