SPRING 2022


ADVANCEMENT NEWS


Kay Creamer’s Generous Gift Provides Opportunities for Others


Grateful for the positive impact Winthrop had on her life, retired teacher Kay Lancaster Creamer ’71 paid forward the investment with a gift to her alma mater.


“I am contributing to the future,” said Creamer, who celebrated her 50th anniversary graduation from Winthrop last year. “This is a way to say thank you and to help another person who hopefully will do good things for South Carolina.”


Due to the pandemic, Creamer’s golden reunion was delayed a year and won’t be held until this spring. Her classmates will be told of her gener- osity, and she hopes her $150,000 scholarship donation will inspire them to set up their own scholarship or donate to hers.


The Kay Lancaster Creamer Mathematics & Science Scholarship was created to support preferably a South Carolina student majoring in secondary education in mathematics or science who has obtained at least sophomore status and has financial need. It was first awarded in fall 2021.


A Mount Pleasant native, Creamer had a national defense student loan for four years that decreased each year. To supplement her tuition payments, she worked on campus her sophomore, junior and senior years. Creamer was awarded a second, smaller scholarship from Winthrop her senior year that enabled her to stay in school to finish her mathematics degree.


“I wouldn’t have been able to attend college with- out it,” Creamer said. “My parents weren’t able to finance my education.”


Now retired and living in Lancaster, Creamer looks back on a long and successful teaching career with pride. She earned two more degrees: a mas- ter’s degree in education from Clemson University and a Ph.D. in secondary education from the University of South Carolina.


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She taught for years at Chester Middle School in as well as served as an instructor at Winthrop and at Tri-County Technical College and in the math lab at Lander University.


“I love public education,” she said, “because it touches everyone in our society. My students were wonderful, and I loved teaching.”


She thrived in the profession. One of the highlights came in 2001 when she was one of four South Carolina teachers who received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. It is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government specifically for K-12 science, tech- nology, engineering, mathematics and/or computer science teaching. “It was quite an experience and an honor,” Creamer said about visiting Washington, D.C., to accept the award.


In retirement, she stays busy playing golf, prac- ticing yoga, walking and playing cards. Married to Jack Creamer, a retired Winthrop programmer analyst and former software specialist, the two love traveling on cruises. They have visited nearly 70 countries on five continents.


Many of the opportunities in Creamer’s life unfold- ed because she obtained a college degree. Her love of Winthrop inspired her to provide an oppor- tunity for success to others.


ARTS & SCIENCES COLLEGE of


63 of


BUSINESS COLLEGE


35 ADMINISTRATION Take a Look at the


Endowed Scholarships and Awards for Students


COLLEGE of EDUCATION


101


COLLEGE of & PERFORMING ARTS


42 421 VISUAL ATHLETICS 24 163 GENERAL


endowed scholarships/ awards for students


*Some scholarships are open to students from more than one college, so the total number by area will be greater than the total number of scholarships.


**General scholarships have criteria that may restrict them to certain populations but are open more broadly than by college.


Milestone Generosity


Thank you to the following donors who recently created new endowed funds or annual scholarship funds.


Endowed Funds:


Marc ’89 and Michelle Bogan ’91, ’92 estab- lished the Marc and Michelle Bogan Endowed Scholarship to support undergraduate students who have financial need.


Patricia Rambow Robertson ’67 established the Patricia Rambow Robertson ’67 Endowed Scholarship to support students who have financial need, have achieved at least sophomore status and have a 3.0 or higher GPA.


David C. Sims ’74 established the David Sims Fine Arts Endowed Scholarship to provide scholarship support for students majoring in fine arts and who are from South Carolina, North Carolina or Georgia.


Teresa. A. Williams ’80 worked with gift planning staff to facilitate a future gift through bequest that will establish the Joby Williams Endowed Scholarship that supports students studying physi- cal education.


Annual Scholarships


William T. Wirthlin created the Alison Manner Dietetic Internship Annual Scholarship to support students in the dietetic internship program in the Department of Human Nutrition. Special prefer- ence is given to those who have earned under- graduate degrees from Winthrop.


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