Turner Wingo - “One Donor's Impact”
Turner Wingo
Like many faithful alumni, Turner Wingo supports his alma mater in many ways. The Collierville, Tenn., native has been a proud Bulldog since graduating with a bachelor's degree in business in 1967.
Now retired from a career in real estate, Turner is taking an active role with the university. He invests his time as a member of the MSU Foundation Board of Directors and his financial resources in scholarships.
To help MSU compete with larger universities, Turner believes in a plan that will allow enrollment to grow at a steady rate that can be supported by the university's faculty and infrastructure and is committed to providing the financial resources needed to attract more students.
"We have to create more scholarship opportunities," Turner said. "Students are shopping around for the best offer and we have to be able to compete for those students."
To that end, Turner established several endowed scholarship funds that will assist qualified students for generations. The Turner and Sherry Wingo Scholarship in Business, created by Turner and his late wife Sherry, will produce eight scholarships for students enrolled in the College of Business. Recipients may be freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors and the scholarships may be renewed on an annual basis.
Other scholarships supported by the Wingo family include the Turner and Dean Wingo Endowed Scholarship, established with Turner's brother, Dean K. Wingo; and the Turner and Dean Wingo Endowed Scholarship in Business, assists full-time students enrolled in the business college.
"Every year, the scholarship recipients write me letters to say thanks, and when you get the letters, you really know that you are doing the right thing," Turner says. "In one of the letters I received, the student said she will be the first person in her family to ever attend college and that this scholarship was making it possible."
Turner has also used an MSU scholarship to memorialize a colleague. He established the R.L. Holtzendorf-Alpha Chemical Annual Scholarship in Engineering to recognize Holtzendorf, who was a founder of Alpha Chemical Corp. The scholarship benefits students from Collierville High School who are majoring in chemical engineering.
In addition to providing a means by which MSU can recruit students, Wingo has another goal – to encourage others to do the same.
"At MSU, anybody that wants to help can," Turner says. "A $500 contribution to scholarships would help a student out a lot. $1,000 is a huge gift to help recruit or retain students. And gifts of any amount help MSU stay competitive with facilities and campus appearance."
"I really enjoy MSU," he says. "And I want others to be able to build the kind of memories that I have."
For more information on contributing to scholarships, contact Cathy Lammons, director of donor relations for the MSU Foundation, at 662.325.7000 or email clammons@advservices.msstate.edu.
