Nursing Students Receive Edward Craig Smith Scholarships

The Edward Craig Smith Scholarship Foundation recently awarded $17,500 of scholarship money for two nursing students at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton and five nursing students at Arkansas Tech University.  This is one of the largest private scholarship awards in the River Valley.  

It was the late Edward B. and Pauline Smith’s vision to set up a scholarship foundation to honor their son, Edward Craig Smith, who predeceased them on Dec. 7, 2000.  The scholarships benefit nursing students at UACCM and ATU.  The scholarships are awarded for one semester and they may be renewed each semester by the board of directors.  The foundation board includes John Stottman, president; Jamie Toland, vice-president; and Josh Sanford, secretary.  Richard Johnson of Johnson Investment Group in Russellville manages the scholarship money.

University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton
 nursing students who received the Edward Craig Smith
memorial scholarship were honored during a recent
scholarship presentation at UACCM.  Those who
attended were, from left, Peggy Lee, nursing
department chair; Jamie Toland, vice president of the
scholarship foundation board; Kathleen Hall, recipient;
Morgan Childress, recipient; Debra Shannon, Johnson
 Investment Group; and Gail Murdoch, Johnson Investment Group.

Recipients from UACCM are Morgan Childress, Atkins; and Kathleen Hall, Conway.

Recipients from ATU are Tiffany Johnson, Ashdown; Brittany Burris, Hector; Kayla Reedy, Quitman; Christina DuCharme, Waldron; Charliece Coble, Ozark; 

The scholarships were presented to the students during two recent events.  The first event was a luncheon and check presentation for the ATU students hosted by Johnson Investment Group on West Main Street in Russellville.  For the second event, representatives of Johnson Investment Group and Jamie Toland, vice president of the board, traveled to UACCM to congratulate the students there and present their checks.  During the events, a biography of the Smith family was read and Richard Johnson explained Edward B. Smith’s vision for the scholarship to the recipients.  Smith was a World War II pilot and there is a memorial on display in the lobby of Johnson Investment Group in his family’s honor.  The scholarship recipients enjoyed looking through the Smith family photos and learning about Ed Smith’s war history.