Scholarships

• Bryan P. Glass Student Scholarship/Fellowship in Zoology Fund
  The Bryan P. Glass Student Scholarship/Fellowship in Zoology Fund was established in 2012 through generous donations from Dr. Glass’s former students. The Glass Fund is used to provide one or more scholarships/fellowships for students enrolled in the Department of Integrative Biology and conducting research in the Collection of Vertebrates, contributing specimens to the Collections as part of their research, or otherwise incorporating the OSU Collection of Vertebrates as part of their academic experience while at OSU. The Glass Fund will be used to support both undergraduate and graduate student researchers.
• Delta Dental of Oklahoma Pre-Dentistry Endowed Scholarship
  The Delta Dental of Oklahoma Oral Health Foundation has established an endowed scholarship for pre-dentistry students beginning with the first award given in 2018. This annual award is for full-time students in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Integrative Biology. Recipients must be sophomores or juniors with a grade-point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have documented financial need. Evidence of campus leadership and community activities may be taken into consideration in the selection process
  
  The mission of the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Oral Health Foundation is to improve the oral health of all Oklahomans by funding and facilitating dental health and education programs. They fulfill their mission in a variety of ways including awarding scholarships to Oklahoma dental students who intend to practice in Oklahoma upon graduation.
• Dr. G. Michael Steelman Scholarship in Integrative Biology
  This endowment was established in 2008 by Dr. G. Michael Steelman for the purpose of supporting an undergraduate scholarship in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oklahoma State University. It was the first donor named scholarship in the department. The scholarship is awarded annually. Junior and senior students majoring in either Zoology or Physiology in the Department of Integrative Biology will be eligible for the scholarship. Students must have a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale to be considered for the scholarship.
  
  Dr. G. Michael Steelman received a B.S. in Zoology from Oklahoma State University in 1969 and is leading a long distinguished career in medicine. He is a second generation OSU graduate; his father was also an OSU Zoology graduate and a physician. Dr. Steelman is a past President of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians and was named Bariatrician of the year twice by that society. He is the only individual to have received that honor twice (1993, 2006) and has an award named in his honor in that professional society. Moreover, Dr. Steelman continues to conduct cutting edge research relative to health and nutrition, as well as maintaining an extremely active practice and is currently the editor of the American Journal of Bariatric Medicine.
• Dr. Ray Dixon Scholarship in Rural Health
  Dr. Raymond W. Dixon established two scholarships for students majoring in Biological Science, Physiology, or Zoology in the Department of Integrative Biology at OSU. For the Dr. Ray Dixon Scholarship in Rural Health, students must have a 3.2 GPA minimum and come from a rural background. The scholarship is will be presented at the departmental spring banquet.
  
  Dr. Dixon received his B.S. in Physiology in 1967 from OSU and his MD at the University of Tennessee in 1971. After his residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee he completed three years of military service at Fort Riley, KS. He then opened a private practice (general and vascular surgery) in Coffeyville, KS and remained there for 13 years. Next, he joined the McAlester Clinic and Cancer Care Associates. He retired in 2000. Among his many prestigious staff appointments, he was Clinical Instructor at the Medical College in Wisconsin, Staff Surgeon at Irwin Army Hospital, Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Coffeyville Memorial Hospital, and a Field Liaison Physician with the Commission of Cancer – American College of Surgeons. Dr. Dixon and his wife Janice have five children (Ray, Cynthia, Randy, Patricia, and Curt) and 15 grandchildren.
• Dr. Ron and Sharion Austin Scholarship in Rural Dentistry Fund
  This Fund will be used to support the Dr. Ron and Sharion Austin Scholarship in Rural Dentistry (the “Scholarship”) as described below. Recipients of the Scholarship will be selected by a committee appointed for such purpose by the Head of the Department of Integrative Biology, or his/her designee. The recipient must be enrolled as a full-time student at the University in the College of Arts and Sciences. The recipient must be majoring in Integrative Biology (i.e., Biological Science, Physiology, or Zoology) and must have graduated from a high school located in a rural area of the country. Eligible candidates should have a 3.2 or higher GPA, demonstrated financial need, and have career aspirations in the dentistry.
• Hepner Family Scholarship
  Dr. Tim Hepner and his wife Patricia (Patsy) established the HEPNER FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT in 2014. With this in mind that Dr. Hepner wanted to give back to his university and especially the students who are interested in pursuing the profession of medicine in one of the three majors in the Department of Integrative Biology. The Hepner Family scholarship is intended for those students dedicated to attending medical school and who qualify based on performance and financial need. Dr. Hepner and Patsy hope that the burden of educational costs for a qualified OSU student will not create an insurmountable barrier to pursuing their dream.
  
  Tim Hepner, M.D. was born in Woodward, Oklahoma and raised in the Oklahoma panhandle, living in Guymon, Oklahoma and graduating from Guymon High School Oklahoma in 1981. He became a 3rd generation OSU Cowboy in 1981 and received his bachelor’s degree in physiology/pharmacology from OSU in 1985. From there he went to the University Of Oklahoma College Of Medicine and received his M.D. degree in 1989. He then started his post-graduate training as a resident in general surgery at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City from 1989-1994. He has been in private practice as a general surgeon at St. John Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma since 1994 and has had a successful practice there for 20 years. He and Patsy have been married for nearly 25 years. They have 3 children: Maggie Cates (currently living in Midland, TX), Eliza (currently a sophomore at OSU), and Lane (a fifth grader in Tulsa).
• Integrative Biology Undergraduate Scholarship
  Established in 1986 to fund an Integrative Biology scholarship. Recipient will have a minimum GPA of 3.0. Consideration will be given to leadership as demonstrated in worthwhile out-of-class activities. Financial need also may be considered a factor.
• Karen L. Smith Memorial Undergraduate Research Symposium Endowment
  The Karen L. Smith Memorial Undergraduate Research Symposium Endowment was established in November 2013 in recognition of Karen’s exceptional service to undergraduates at Oklahoma State University. The Fund supports the Karen L. Smith Undergraduate Research Symposium, which is held near the end of every Fall and Spring semester and includes the Karen L. Smith Research Excellence Award for the best student presentation. Karen graduated from OSU with her Bachelor of Science in Physiology and her Master of Science in Psychology, and she later returned to OSU as a senior academic counselor in the College of Arts and Sciences. Karen worked tirelessly to enhance the undergraduate experience for students and strongly encouraged students to participate in professional development opportunities. She was instrumental in designing this opportunity for students to present the results of their research in a professional setting.
• Departmental Undergraduate Scholarship

  The Department of Biology awards a scholarship in the fall semester to a junior majoring in plant biology and having an excellent academic record.

   

  Applications should be submitted by February 28 to the departmental office in 501 Life Sciences West. Please include a resume and an unofficial transcript with application form.

• Betty and Richard Speairs, Jr., Fellowship in Botany
  The Betty and Richard Speairs, Jr., Fellowship in Botany is awarded through the Department of Biology at Oklahoma State University. The fellowship offers undergraduate students training in herbarium curation and they may be provided the opportunity to conduct research in plant taxonomy. The recipient must be a full-time student who exhibits significant enthusiasm for his or her major and an interest in herbarium curation and plant identification. The student must have the potential and interest to pursue graduate studies and the desire to pursue a teaching career in secondary schools or higher education. Juniors and seniors who have taken field botany and/or plant taxonomy will be given first consideration. The fellowship provides a stipend per year. The recipient will work approximately 10 hours per week in the OSU Herbarium and learn skills in the collection, preparation, and curation of plant specimens. Contact Mark Fishbein to apply.
• About Richard K. Speairs, Jr., 1920-2004

  Richard Kirk Speairs, Jr. was born in 1920 in Muskogee, Oklahoma and graduated from Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas. He attended Oklahoma State University, receiving a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Botany during 1941. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

   

  Dr. Speairs taught biology at Centenary College of Louisiana from 1949 until 1967 and was chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University in Shreveport from the time it opened in 1967 until he retired in 1987. He founded the Ouachita Mountains Biological Station near Mena, Arkansas in 1962 and served as Director from 1962 until 2002.

   

  Ron Tyrl, OSU Biology professor emeritus, became friends with the Speairs when they attended his first elderhostel in 1990, "Wildflowers of the Midwest". Dick and Betty continued to attend Ron's elderhostels and in 1995 established this fellowship.