A $200K donation from Harold Thomas will create an endowed scholarship within the UC College of Allied Health Sciences
UC’s Physical Therapy Program Receives its First Endowed Scholarship
Mister Rogers has nothing on Mr. Harold Thomas.
Thomas recently established an endowed scholarship fund at the University of Cincinnati College of Allied Health Sciences in his neighbor’s name. The Beth A. Bextermueller Rehabilitation Sciences Endowment Fund honors Beth Bextermueller, his friend and neighbor of 10 years, and benefits students in UC’s rehabilitation sciences program.
“I was always told by my parents, that if you were reasonably successful, you should give back. And I prefer to do it while I’m still living so I can see the results,” said Thomas. “I chose to name the fund after Beth because people know and love her. She has done great things for the program.”
Bextermueller spent seven years as the programs manager for UC’s department of rehabilitation sciences, which offers an undergraduate degree in health sciences and a doctorate of physical therapy (DPT) degree.
"We are so grateful for the generosity of Mr. Thomas and for the recognition the scholarship provides Beth, who has been one of the biggest advocates for our program and students," said Tina Whalen, dean of the UC College of Allied Health Sciences. "This scholarship will make a big impact."
Health sciences is one of the largest and fastest-growing programs within the college; many students who major in it go on to study physical therapy, medicine and occupational therapy. The award-winning DPT program accepts 30 students each year and boasts a 95 percent first-time pass rate of the national physical therapy exam (NPTE) – six percentage points above the national average.
“You will not find a more caring group of people than the family that is the DPT program,” Bextermueller said. “The faculty get inside students’ heads and hearts.”
Bextermueller helped care for Thomas’s wife of 60 years, Margret, until Margret’s passing earlier this year. They bonded as neighbors do, sharing recipes, stories and meeting for regular Sunday dinners.
When Bextermueller began planning for her retirement, she told Thomas at one of their Sunday dinners that the DPT program did not have its own scholarship available to students. Thomas, who worked 22 years for his father's business Thomas Foods that subsequently became Sysco Corp. and who is also a former professor of marketing at Wilmington College, wanted to make an impact. And he ended up making double the impact, all while recognizing Bextermueller’s work with the DPT program.
“I was originally asked for $100,000 to establish the scholarship – but I told them ‘No, I want to do a $200,000 scholarship that is named after Beth,’” Thomas said. The endowment, which will be funded in perpetuity, will support rehabilitation sciences students, candidates of the DPT program and health sciences students. It can be used for individual scholarships, stipends or clinical experience support, including travel for professional training.
“Harold is a very gracious, successful and understated man. And now he has created the first endowment for the department,” Bextermueller said. “I look at the scholarship as a resource or pathway for students to choose UC, and I know that when they get here, they will love it.”