The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation has awarded the UAB School of Health Professions a grant of $272,500 – an increase of $22,500 from the previous year – for scholarships to women in need of financial assistance during the 2023-24 academic year. The grant renewal is half of a $545,000 gift shared annually with the School of Nursing to support women pursuing careers in health care.
“Every year we are able to deliver significant financial support to dozens of our students in the most need thanks to the foundation’s generosity,” said School of Health Professions Dean Andrew J. Butler, Ph.D. “I want to personally thank them for their continued trust in the stewardship of our school and their faith in the excellence of our students.”
Lettie Pate WhiteheadEvery year, the School of Health Professions delivers an average of 20 scholarships each fall, spring and summer semester. For the 2023 spring semester, the school awarded scholarships to 22 women in six programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels:
- B.S. in Biobehavioral Nutrition and Wellness
- B.S. in Health Care Management
- M.S. in Genetic Counseling
- M.S. in Health Informatics
- M.S. in Nutrition Sciences
- Doctor of Physical Therapy
“This is the premier foundation when it comes to supporting education and we are thankful to the foundation trustees, its president – Russ Hardin, and its senior program officer – Carrie Davis Conway for their entrusting us continue extending Lettie Pate Whitehead’s legacy,” said Thomas Giffin, senior director of development, UAB School of Health Professions.
Every year, the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation awards educational grants to more than 200 accredited institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The grants are delivered by these institutions to more than 10,000 students in the form of scholarships annually.
The foundation’s namesake, Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, was the wife of Joseph B. Whitehead, an original bottler of Coca-Cola. Widowed at the age of 34 in 1906, with two young children, Lettie Pate took over the company and achieved great success. In 1934, she was appointed to the board of The Coca-Cola Company, becoming one of the first female directors of a major corporation in U.S. history.
To see our current cohort of scholars, please click here.
To see the foundation’s full story, please watch the video below.
