A pair of retired Northwest Missouri State University faculty have established a $50,000 endowment to award scholarships to students seeking an American Chemical Society (ACS) accredited chemistry degree.
Dr. Harlan Higginbotham and Dr. Ed Farquhar, who are alumni of the University in addition to their longtime service as faculty, created the Higginbotham-Farquhar Chemistry Scholarship through the Northwest Foundation.
The scholarship fund will award two $1,000 scholarships annually to juniors or seniors who maintain enrollment in at least 12 credit hours during the fall and spring semesters at Northwest. Preference will be given to students pursuing the University’s ACS-accredited Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and who may be considering post-graduate studies.
Higginbotham, a 1959 graduate, and Farquhar, a 1958 graduate, chose to pursue their bachelor’s degrees at Northwest because of its affordable tuition cost and proximity to their hometowns in northwest Missouri. After graduating from Northwest, the pair went on to earn their graduate degrees together at Iowa State University and eventually returned to Northwest as chemistry faculty in 1964.
Higginbotham retired from Northwest in 1999, and Farquhar retired in 2001 with service that included 15 years as chair of the chemistry and physics department. Both men also were instrumental in obtaining ACS accreditation for the Northwest chemistry degree in 1967.