University of Michigan

Continuing the Cycle of Giving: The Stamps Scholars

Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services

Penny and Roe Stamps host a brunch for the Stamps Scholars at the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center, before the game against Northwestern. Stamps Society VP Alysia Hogan is front row, third from left.

April 1, 2009

“When I got the scholarship, my dad broke down and cried.”

That’s how Alysia Hogan remembers the day she got the offer: a full-tuition Stamps Scholarship to the University of Michigan.

In her hometown of Lindwood, MI, Alysia had built up the impressive record of accomplishment and service that helped her earn admission to Michigan:

• top scholar;
• student council president;
• Relay for Life volunteer;
• tutor to young schoolchildren
• and a pianist hosting concerts for residents of her grandfather’s nursing home.

Since its creation in 2006 by Penny (BSDES ’66, CERTT EDUC ’66) and Roe (BS IE ’67 and MS IE ’72 Georgia Tech; MBA ’74 Harvard Business School) Stamps, the Stamps Scholars program has awarded scholarships to 54 outstanding U-M undergraduates. The couple supports a similar program at Georgia Tech.

The Stamps Scholarships unite students from several U-M schools and colleges through the core values of academic achievement; international learning; community involvement and career planning (with support from U-M’s Career Center).

As co-vice president of the student-run Stamps Scholars Society, Hogan recently organized a group of Scholars to serve dinner to residents of U-M’s Ronald McDonald House. More than 40 parents and siblings of critically-ill young U-M Hospitals patients relaxed over a delicious meal.

“Playing piano for my grandfather, people would come and listen, and it was a small and intimate thing,” Alysia says. “Ronald McDonald house was like that, too: we saw the people we were helping and enjoyed their direct appreciation. This was the first time the Stamps Scholars had done anything like this, and now we want to do it more often.”

The Stamps program enriches the education of top students like Alysia Hogan with opportunities to encounter other cultures, develop career plans and help their community. The spirit of service that grows out of these experiences is something they will carry with them long after they graduate.

“The Stamps Scholarship allowed me to come to Michigan,” Alysia Hogan recalls. “I’d really like to do the same for someone else someday.”

Learn more about the Stamps Scholars Society.