Retired faculty create scholarship to support accredited chemistry students

Nov. 29, 2022

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.

“Dr. Higginbotham and Dr. Farquhar have a wonderful Northwest story, and now their legacy of service to the University will continue by assisting countless aspiring chemists in the future,” Lori Steiner, the assistant vice president of University Advancement and chief finance officer of the Northwest Foundation, said. “We are grateful for their gift and continued support of Northwest.”

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.

“We talked about it for years,” Higginbotham said. “We wanted to support the department. We wanted to support the program.”

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.

“We got to graduate school, and we felt like we were a little bit behind,” Higginbotham said. “We thought it’d be nice if we could get Northwest up to the point where students could graduate and be up with the rest of the progressive schools.”

Until the Garrett-Strong Science Building opened in 1968, Northwest science programs were housed on the fourth floor of the Administration Building with just one laboratory available for all of the lab-based courses to use.

“It was a struggle initially, trying to get any kind of equipment,” Farquhar said. “Eventually we were able to incorporate the courses we wanted and a curriculum that was consistent with what the ACS said we needed to do.”

Today, Northwest’s ACS-certified major in chemistry prepares students with a comprehensive and deep exposure to the many aspects of chemistry. Students are intellectually challenged and gain an appreciation of how the discipline impacts their daily lives. The degree program is designed to prepare up-and-coming professional chemists for careers in research institutions, industry or the pursuit of graduate studies.

Northwest students who complete the course curriculum receive certificates in conjunction with their degree. According to the University’s most recent graduate data, 100 percent of students who graduate with a Northwest chemistry degree secure employment or continue their education within six months after graduation.

In addition to their cash gift for the purpose of establishing the scholarship, Higginbotham and Farquhar will provide $2,000 a year for three years so the scholarships may be awarded starting with the 2023-2024 academic year.

The fund remains open fund and is capable of receiving additional contributions at any time.

For more information about the Higginbotham-Farquhar Chemistry Scholarship or to make a gift to support Northwest, contact the Northwest Foundation at 660.562.1248 or visit www.nwmissouri.edu/GiveOnline.