The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., received a $30 million endowment gift courtesy of T. Denny Sanford, board chairman for the United National Corporation and member of the association. With this money, the Association establishes the Horatio Alger-Denny Sanford Scholarship Program, providing $3 million in scholarships per year for Horatio Alger scholars.
Sanford gave his reasoning behind the donation in a press release, saying that, “I have always measured success by how much I can do for others to improve their lives. The mission of Horatio Alger Association is rooted in that philosophy and I am proud to support our Scholars in this important way. I have been lucky to have been profoundly affected by exceptional, forward-thinking universities – in South Dakota and across the United States – and I wanted to pay tribute to their good work through this new Association scholarship fund.”
Sanford is a renowned philanthropist having received 44 awards from various nonprofits. In addition, he was named one of “America’s Top Donors” by the Chronicle of Philanthropy and by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. While his charitable giving has focused on healthcare and children’s causes, he recently gave $5 million to Long Island University to create the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a state-of-the-art research complex designed to foster student entrepreneurship.
The Association educates students on the opportunities in the free-enterprise system, awarding scholarships to high school students with commitments to bettering their communities and pursuing higher educations. Since their founding in 1984, the Association has given more than $125 million to students, while the new Alger-Denny Sanford scholarship program stands ready to benefit students in the 2019-2020 academic year.
The new scholarship program awards selected students with $150,000 or $250,000 per year based on enrollment, and plans to run for the next ten years. The scholarships are for any student attending 12 universities selected by Sanford, with seven of them located in South Dakota.
