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Recent Endowments for SPU

Don and Becky Bilderback have deep roots with SPU. Several generations of family members have attended and graduated from the University including their son and daughter-in-law, and both sets of their parents. As students, they thoroughly enjoyed being able to interact with faculty who lived close to the campus and believe that was an important part of their college experience. Recognizing the current high cost of housing in the Seattle area and the difficulty faculty, especially those affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, have in affording homes near the campus, they have established an endowment to provide financial assistance to qualified faculty and staff who wish to live close to the University.

Steve Danishek and Dee Tezelli have been long-time supporters of Seattle Pacific. They've also had a strong desire to support English majors engaged in creative writing endeavors, especially those with a particular interest in developing their novel writing skills with the intent of becoming published writers. Perhaps this interest stems from the fact that Dee is herself an accomplished, prolific author of multi-cultural murder mystery and spy thrillers. In furthering their support, they have established an endowment to provide scholarships to students studying in the program area of English who wish to pursue this creative writing interest.

Sharleen Kato graduated from SPU in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Clothing and Textiles. She also served for more than 30 years as a faculty member at the University and Director for the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, as well as terms as the Director of Global Engagement and Chair of Human Development and Family Studies for FCS Education. Dean, also highly involved at Seattle Pacific, served over 20 years on the SPU Engineering Advisory Board and currently serves on the Board of Trustees. Amending a previous endowment they established at the University, they have established a newly purposed fund to provide scholarships for students majoring in Family and Consumer Sciences.

Rebecca (Becky) Anderson Barton first met Julie Hagglund at Seattle Pacific University where they were both nursing students and became lifelong friends. In 2021, Julie retired from a distinguished 40-year nursing career. In honor of Julie's retirement, Becky and Joel Barton established the Julie A. Hagglund Nursing Scholarship Endowment to support students who display, much like Julie did, determination and desire to gain a BSN from SPU.

Rex Cooper and Elsie Arnold Cooper '39 were married for 47 years. Elsie served faithfully as an elementary school teacher and Rex was an auditor for Lockheed Martin. Elsie had a formative experience at Seattle Pacific, and together, Rex and Elsie were steadfast proponents of SPU and higher education. They were very philanthropic, and they provided gifts to multiple charities through their estate, including one to Seattle Pacific. Elsie passed away on May 17, 2008, and Rex died on November 3, 2020. Upon receiving their generous estate gift, SPU established the A. Rex and Eslie Cooper Financial Assistance Fund for Theology Students as an endowed fund that will provide scholarships in perpetuity.

Founded in 2015, the Douglas M. Strong Seminary Advisory Scholarship Board Endowment provides scholarships for students in the master's programs of Seattle Pacific Seminary. On October 12, 2021, the Seminary Advisory Board voted to amend the name of the endowment in honor of Dr. Douglas Strong's years of service and dedication as Dean of the School of Theology and the Seattle Pacific Seminary.

Matthew A. English graduated from Seattle Pacific in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. Similarly, his cousin, Eric M. English, graduated from the University in 2002 also with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration but with an emphasis in Economics. Both wished to acknowledge their parents and grandparents for instilling the values of Christian faith, family and higher education in their children and grandchildren. To do this, they established an endowment in honor of their parents and grandparents to provide scholarships to undergraduate students studying in the academic program areas of business and economics.

Gary A. Baldwin graduated from Seattle Pacific in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business Administration and spent many years of his career in accounting practices, business tax programs, sales tax administration for multi-state corporations, payroll administration, and network security and computer systems administration. Because Gary had a very meaningful time as a student at Seattle Pacific and desires to help others afford the opportunity of a Seattle Pacific experience, he established the Gary A. Baldwin Scholarship Endowment to provide scholarships to undergraduate students studying economics or business administration.

Robert Benedict graduated from Seattle Pacific in 1968 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Business Administration and German and spend 35 years of his career teaching at the university level in the fields of Political Science and Public Administration. Because Robert and his wife, Judy, have a long-held appreciation for Seattle Pacific and Robert's undergraduate experience, and Robert appreciates the environment and benefits students gain at a smaller private university, they established the Robert C. Benedict Scholarship Endowment for students studying Political Science.

Both Carl and Lynn Anselmi have deep ties to the University. Not only are both graduates of SPU (Carl, Class of 1986 and Lynn, Class of 1988), but two of their three children are also graduates - Hallie, Class of 2021 (Psychology) and Nate, Class of 2020 (Mechanical Engineering). Lynn has also been a long-time employee of Seattle Pacific as a Graphic Designer and Photographer in the Office of University Communications. Because Carl and Lynn witnessed the significant impact the engineering program had on their son's life, they desired to provide support and opportunities for more students to benefit from a quality SPU Engineering education. To that end, they established this scholarship endowment for students intending to major in or who are currently majoring in any area of engineering.