Longtime school teacher Delois Reed Cooper, a 1954 alumnus of Tennessee Tech, had no children of her own, but treated all her students as though they were. And over her 47 years of teaching, she never forgot that a college education can be a ticket to a gratifying career.

When she passed away last year, she left a will that remembered future generations of teachers from Overton and White counties who wish to further their education. The Jessie (Delois) Reed Cooper Scholarship Endowment has just been established with a residual bequest of $69,685 from her estate.

"We deeply appreciate Mrs. Cooper's generosity," says President Bob Bell. "Her legacy will live on not only at Tennessee Tech but throughout the profession she devoted her life to."

Cooper, who was born in 1920, began her career as a school teacher at Rickman School in Overton County before joining the faculty at Findlay School in White County.

"The generosity of our alumni never ceases to amaze me," says Tiff Rector, planned giving director in University Development. "Here is another example of someone who wasn't extremely wealthy, but through careful estate planning was able to make a tremendous gift that will touch the lives of generations of Tennessee Tech students."

The scholarship endowment is intended for active teachers, although prospective students with plans for a teaching career might also be eligible.