Bixby Foundation Gift Brings Teaching Chair, Scholarship For Nursing, Health Program - 12th Teaching Chair in OWC History

03/22/2005

Although H. Glenn Bixby may have never set foot on the campus of Okaloosa-Walton College, the Detroit industrialist and community leader had a keen insight into the value of education as well as the fiscal needs of colleges and universities through his role as trustee and as president of the Michigan Colleges Foundation.

"My father realized the importance of donations from the private sector," said Dick Bixby, his son who resides in Mary Esther. "He chaired the University of Michigan's Development Council for nine years and raised millions of dollars for his perfect' university."

So, it did not surprise to Dick Bixby that his father chose to leave his fortune to four educational institutions--Michigan, Wayne State University, his daughter Molly's Duke University, and --that's right--Okaloosa-Walton College. The latter was done at the encouragement of Dick Bixby, an Eglin engineer who with his wife Peggy, have watched OWC grow from a small junior college to a four-year institution.

In honor of his late father's service to education, Bixby said a gift of $67,000 has been made to the OWC Foundation to create the H. Glenn Bixby Endowed Teaching Chair in Health Technology and the H. Glenn Bixby Nursing Scholarship Endowment. The contributions are eligible for state matching funds that will double the size of the donation.

"On behalf of my father I am pleased share this good news with the college. My father was known for his integrity, fairness and good business sense. In fact, one of his business colleagues said, Glenn Bixby never offered a deal in which he would not be willing to accept either side,'" said Dick Bixby of his father who died last year at age 100 in suburban Dearborn, Michigan.

There was a lot more to H. Glenn Bixby than his philanthropy. Born the year the Wright Brothers launched their airplane in 1903 to a fairly poor family, Bixby toiled in the sugar beet fields and then worked his way through the University of Michigan, where he met his late wife Pauline. He joined the Ex-Cello Corporation as a "laborer," then became assistant to the president before rising through the company to become president, CEO, and later chairman of the international tool and die and engine company.

In a Detroit Athletic Club magazine article about the hard-working Bixby, it noted how he was named a Distinguished Alumnus at Michigan and received a distinguished service award from Wayne State. "I've helped a lot of organizations. I'm somewhat of a sucker. I aid too many charities," he said. "I've had a pretty good life."

Dr. Bob Richburg, OWC president, said the college "is indebted to Dick Bixby for his role in bringing this gift from his father's estate. We are particularly honored to be included with other national universities as beneficiaries. From what I've read and heard about H. Glenn Bixby, he was a consummate businessman and gentleman, who never forgot how education lifted him up."

"We are honored by this major gift and that the Bixby family has chosen to use the funds to assist our health studies programs," said Richburg. "The Bixby Endowed Teaching Chair will provide funding for instructors and departmental needs. Of course, the Glenn Bixby Scholarship will mean financial assistance for our nursing students."