Donor Giving Stories

Every year, the UAB School of Health Professions receives scholarship support from generous individuals, groups and organizations.

We see alumni like Kara Caruthers, MSPAS, PA-C, who established the Mary Henderson Caruthers Sponsored Scholarship in Biomedical and Health Sciences to honor her mother.

We see alumni groups, like the Master of Science in Health Administration (Class 41), who recently launched a campaign for the MSHA Class 41 Sponsored Scholarship.

And we see corporations like Encompass Health Corp. - formerly HealthSouth Corp., who created the Encompass Health Corporation Endowed Scholars Fund.

The one thing they all have in common - they recognize SHP alumni as difference makers. They understand that our graduates go on to change lives in their workplace and in their communities. They see the intrinsic value in our people and they gladly support their studies.

Here are their stories:

Past HSA doctoral program directors: Top Row L/R - Larry Hearld, Bob Hernandez. Bottom Row L/R - Jack Duncan, Myron Fottler, Thompson

Grassroots effort for Thompson Scholarship quadruples expectations

A grassroots effort for a scholarship in honor of one of the co-founders of the School of Health Professions’ PhD in Administration Health Services program has quadrupled expectations.

The Dr. Richard Thompson Memorial Endowed Scholarship, initiated in January of 2022, began with a goal of $25,000. Today, the Thompson Scholarship has received tremendous support with numerous gifts and now surpasses $100,000 in gifts and pledges.

Mary Henderson Caruthers pictured with her daughters

Caruthers honors late mother with scholarship

As a 22-year-old med school student, Kara Caruthers, MSPAS, PA-C, failed anatomy. But that is the last time she failed anything academically.

In her 30s, Caruthers became an alumna of the UAB School of Health Professions’ Physician Assistant Studies program.

In her 40s, she is a doctoral candidate in the School’s PhD in Nutrition Sciences program. Caruthers’ unending drive to learn more comes from someone who never had the opportunity to learn more – her mother.

And that is why she has created the Mary Henderson Caruthers Sponsored Scholarship in Biomedical and Health Sciences.

Lucas Prather with Tom Miller

Quorum Health provides MSHA 1st ever full-ride scholarship

Lucas Prather, a first-year student in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Master of Science in Health Administration program (MSHA Class 52), is the recipient of the inaugural Quorum Scholar in Health Administration.

The Quorum gift, spearheaded by Quorum Health CEO Thomas Miller, is the first-ever full ride scholarship in the MSHA program’s 51-year history.

“Taking a step to develop a scholarship for a student in the UAB MSHA program is a more direct way to make sure the program maintains its excellence in this field over the years,” said Miller, an alumnus of the MSHA program (Class 18). “A significant part of my success was related to the education, relations and network opportunities that were provided from UAB and this is a small gift for the many things the program has done for my family.”

Neeysa Biddle, 1st female to endow HSA scholarship

Pioneering healthcare leader Biddle is first female to endow scholarship for UAB HSA

Neeysa Biddle, longtime healthcare leader of Ascension and St. Vincent’s Health Services, becomes the first female to endow a scholarship in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Health Services Administration with the establishment of the Neeysa Davis Biddle Endowed Scholarship in Health Administration.

Biddle is a double alumna having earned a B.S. in Allied Health (currently Health Care Management) and an M.S. in Health Administration (MSHA Class 26).

“I have been incredibly fortunate throughout my career to have worked for really great organizations, and one reason for that was the foundation of quality knowledge to navigate and succeed in the healthcare industry that I received at UAB,” said Biddle. “I am delighted to give back to the programs that helped me, and even more so, I feel strongly about helping future generations of health administration students.”