FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A fund to establish a graduate scholarship in the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions has been set up by Shelia Jones Rye of Elkins, and Alton Rye, of Bedford, Texas, to memorialize Professor Donald R. Rye.

The Donald R. Rye Memorial Scholarship will provide financial assistance to exceptional graduate students who are pursuing a master’s or doctorate degree in counselor education. Preference will be given to students who are Arkansas residents, have demonstrated exceptional past academic performance and have a serious financial need.

Shelia Rye, Professor Rye’s wife, and Alton Rye, his brother, said they wanted to create an opportunity for people to pay tribute to Rye’s memory in a way that he would have found meaningful.

Friends, colleagues and others who wish to do so may make in-memoriam contributions to the scholarship fund. To date, $5,620 of the total $25,000 needed to endow a scholarship has been raised through gifts made by family and friends.

Donald Rye, a professor of counselor education, worked at the University of Arkansas for 25 years. He received numerous honors and awards during his career. Most recently, the Arkansas Counseling Association honored him with the Distinguished Professional Service Award, its highest award, for his outstanding service and significant contributions to counselors and the counseling profession. He was honored in 1998 with the Kathleen Wrenn Humane and Caring Person Award and received the ACA’s Research Award in 1999. He died Feb. 1, 2001.

Christopher J. Lucas, professor and department head of the College’s department of educational leadership, counseling and foundations, said, "Professor Rye played a pivotal role in the development of counselor licensure in Arkansas over the past two decades. It would be difficult to identify any other single individual who has done so much to improve counseling and counselor education throughout this region."

Shelia Rye said, "Donald came from a humble background. A college education was only a dream. Then, a Rotary Club gave him a scholarship and opened the door to an array of opportunities that Don never would have had without their help. Establishing a scholarship in Donald’s name allows the legacy of opportunity to continue for some other deserving student. That’s why we wanted to do this. "

Born Feb. 12, 1940, Rye earned a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas Tech University in 1962, followed by a master’s and doctorate degrees in guidance and counseling from Indiana University. His wife, Shelia, two daughters, Carrie and Tonia; parents, Rev. A. C. and Vesta Massey Rye; three brothers, Glen, Alton, and Charles; a sister, Wanda Rye Perry; and a grandson, Burkemon Rye-Banks, survive him.

The counselor education program is one of five distinctive academic programs found within the Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling and Foundations. As a nationally accredited counselor education program, the program prepares professional counselors for elementary and secondary schools, colleges, mental health agencies and private practice.

The program also offers a fully accredited Ph.D. program in counselor education, accepting students from all over the nation and the world, providing quality faculty who work in major educational institutions in the United States and who provide state-of-the-art research and counseling methodology to the discipline.

Those interested in contributing to the Donald R. Rye Memorial Scholarship Fund may do so by contacting Bruce Dunn, director of development, College of Education and Health Professions at (479) 575-3126 or via e-mail bddunn@uark.edu.

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