Ruth Ella Moore fund first college-wide endowed scholarship

With the fervent support of alumni, staff, faculty and friends, the College of Public Health has its first college-wide endowed scholarship – a fund developed to honor a public health trailblazer and one that will provide opportunities for public health and health administration students long into the future.

With a triple-match campaign for the Ruth Ella Moore Scholarship this academic year, Senior Director of Development Taylor King Boyles hoped to raise $10,000 toward the new fund. He was astounded when donors met the five-year, $100,000 goal in just weeks.

“This is a testament to our college community’s commitment to championing students with a passion for public health and making our college a more diverse, equitable and accessible place,” King Boyles said. “We are inspired by our donors’ generosity and we simply cannot thank them enough.”

Moore, a three-time Ohio State alumna, became the first Black woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in the natural sciences in 1933, delivering her dissertation on the bacteriology of tuberculosis. Prior to that, she earned a bachelor’s in microbiology in 1926 and a master’s in bacteriology in 1927.

The scholarship in her name provides support to students who are first-generation or trailblazing in their educational pursuits.

“Ruth Ella Moore not only continues to be relevant to public health today through the work that she did as a microbiologist and a bacteriologist, but because of her impact as a trailblazer,” said College of Public Health Dean Amy Fairchild.

The scholarship already has begun to ease the path for Buckeyes who follow in her footsteps, determined to create better health and well-being in communities throughout Ohio and beyond.

For inaugural recipient Stephanie Oganuwe, a third-year bachelor’s student specializing in environmental public health, the scholarship has provided some financial breathing room and allowed her to focus that energy on growing her knowledge and looking toward her future academic and career goals.

“This scholarship truly means a lot to my family and me. We are grateful to know that we will not be financially strained during my third year at Ohio State. I will be able to continue to work hard to pursue my goals of becoming a physician and public policy leader,” Oganuwe said.

Read more about Ruth Ella Moore.