News and Progress
$2 Million Gift to MU College of Veterinary Medicine Will Improve Animals' Lives
Jan. 8, 2007
Tom and Betty Scott of Mission Hills, Kan., have given $2 million to the For All We Call Mizzou campaign at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Their gift will benefit the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.
“Tom and Betty Scott’s generous gift illustrates their enthusiasm for Mizzou,” said MU Chancellor Brady Deaton. “The Scotts’ gift will help improve the training of future veterinarians and the treatment of animals. We are very grateful for their generosity.”
The gift to the College of Veterinary Medicine will be placed in an unrestricted excellence fund for use at the dean’s discretion.
“A gift like this shows tremendous faith in the leadership of the College and University. It will clearly make a future difference by advancing the veterinary college to a new level and providing flexibility for the leadership of the College to address its greatest needs and opportunities and to develop strategic priorities. All of us in the university and veterinary communities are truly indebted to Tom and Betty for their generosity and desire to make a lasting difference,” said Cecil Moore, interim dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The Scotts are animal lovers and the proud owners of two toy poodles, Rags and Nicole. Mrs. Scott also is an avid horsewoman. Their involvement with the MU College of Veterinary Medicine began shortly after they were married and their golden basset hound, Smiley, received treatment for a broken vertebra. At that time, there was little that could be done for dogs with back injuries, but the Scotts were so impressed with the care Smiley received and the kindness of the faculty that they promised to someday repay the College.
Beginning in the 1980s, they began to fulfill that pledge by giving $3,600, in memory of their toy poodle, Muffin, to buy the college a needed ultra-low temperature freezer. The Scotts continued to give to the College, equipping individual equine clinical stalls and helping build the new teaching hospital, Clydesdale Hall. In 1996, they pledged $550,000 to establish the Tom and Betty Scott Program in Veterinary Oncology, a gift that strengthened an emerging effort for veterinary and human medicine oncologists to collaborate on research. In 2006, funds from the Scott Program allowed the establishment of the Scott Cell Culture Laboratory for Comparative Oncology Research, a laboratory designed to speed the culturing of cells from tumors, which allows for faster and more accurate diagnosis of many cancers and aids researchers in learning how these diseases spread.
“We trust this commitment fulfills the promise we made to Smiley and the College of Veterinary Medicine many years ago,” said Mr. Scott. “We're happy to have this opportunity to honor our beloved dog by helping other animals.”
Mr. Scott attended MU on a football scholarship and graduated in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in business. After graduation, he began a career in insurance that lasted more than 40 years. During his career, he developed a group of companies that operated as the Insurance Management Corporation, one of the top insurance and risk management firms in the U.S., and he received national recognition in the areas of long-haul trucking and childcare insurance. His company merged with Arthur J. Gallagher & Company in 1996, and Mr. Scott retired in 1998.
Mrs. Scott enjoyed a successful career in business management after attending the MU School of Nursing from 1956 to 1958. She and Mr. Scott met while studying at Mizzou and were married three months after Mr. Scott’s graduation.
The For All We Call Mizzou campaign has a goal of raising $1 billion by December 2008. Reaching this goal will enhance MU’s ability to compete nationally and internationally for the best students and faculty and will provide broad access for students of all economic backgrounds to Missouri’s flagship University. The campaign has raised $752.2 million, which is more than 75 percent of the $1 billion goal.