McNutt family donates $2.12 million for COAS scholarships

A $2.12 million gift from the estate of Louise McNutt will fund between 10 and 15 annual full-tuition graduate fellowships for students studying the humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences.\nMcNutt passed away in June 2000 and was the only child of the late Indiana Gov. Paul V. McNutt and his wife, Kathleen McNutt Watson.\n"She'd be very pleased (about the fellowship) in that it allows students in humanities to have the financial freedom to explore their interests," said her cousin, John L. Krauss of Indianapolis.\nThe full-tuition scholarships, which cover tuition and living stipends, are for all of the graduate students' years at IU, said Tom Herbert, the executive director of development for COAS.\n"It will provide much needed assistance for graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in our humanities department," he said.\nThe IU chancellor's office, which will match the interest income from McNutt's donation, is also aiding COAS.\n"With the matching money from the chancellor's office, that will mean (COAS will have) around $300,000 in income to be spent each and every year," Herbert said.\nAside from relieving the students' financial burdens, the fellowships will also assist IU.\n"Graduate education lies at the core of the intellectual and academic life of every great research university," COAS Dean Kumble R. Subbaswamy said in a statement "This gift from the McNutt estate will allow us to compete with other institutions to bring the very best graduate students in the humanities disciplines to Indiana University."\nThe effects of McNutt's gift will not only impact the lives of the students who receive the fellowships, but it will also leave lasting impressions on IU, Herbert said.\n"The longest lasting (effect) is by enabling the college to compete for and retain its students," Herbert said. "It will help perpetuate a true cycle of excellence for endeavors in departments like English and history."\nHerbert also said the fellowship will affect other universities since many graduate students become professors.\n"We are very grateful to Louise McNutt for her vision and her generosity," Subbaswamy said. "Many generations of graduate students who will in time become leaders in the academic world and beyond will also be grateful for this gift."\nThe woman who created these educational opportunities didn't even graduate from IU. \nAs a person who Krauss described as "constantly curious," McNutt began her college education at IU but earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She left IU because her family moved to the Philippines once her father became its U.S. high commissioner, according to the press release.\nAlthough McNutt was not an alumna of IU, she had a "great deal of interest in IU and Hoosier history," Krauss said. \nHer family's involvement with the University might explain why McNutt was intrigued by its history. According to a press release, her father attended the IU School of Law and graduated with highest honors in 1913. Four years later, he followed other family members by joining the law school's faculty. He served as the law school's dean from 1925 until he became Indiana's governor in 1933.\nHer family namesake remains integrated in the University because of her, and her family's, involvement. \n"She's had a long history at IU with Dr. Wells and the state of Indiana over the years," Krauss said. "She supported the McNutt lecture, and her father is memorialized by the McNutt Quadrangle."\nMcNutt also remained in touch with the history department faculty and late Chancellor Herman B Wells. \n-- Contact staff writer Ashley Rhodebeck at arhodebe@indiana.edu.