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Love of history means also leaving a legacy for CWU students.
When emeritus professor of history Paul LeRoy passed away in 2008, CWU lost a favorite retired faculty member and a close friend. He is remembered by former students and colleagues with much fondness. Dr. Leroy had been a strong supporter of the Department of History during his lifetime and chose to leave a legacy by naming the CWU Foundation the beneficiary in his life insurance. The Paul Leroy History Scholarship Endowment will benefit future students on their own roads to discovery.
In an interview for the CWU Foundation newsletter "Rapport" in 2002 Dr. Leroy recalled how his love of history developed from a trip to see "The Mummy" with Boris Karloff.
"Boris Karloff was in the movie, I wasn't with him," LeRoy says laughing. "I was just a little kid."
That movie coupled with an ancient Egyptian exhibit in New York City, near his native Connecticut, ignited a passion for Egyptology that could not be put out.
"I wasn't in high school yet, but it really turned me on," LeRoy said.
LeRoy has studied everything related to Egyptology ever since. He has made more than a dozen trips to Egypt and would like to make a few more. In fact, LeRoy, on his most recent trip to Egypt, helped rediscover a pyramid on an island near the Aswan Dam. Even though he has not been back for about year, he is helping fund some research projects in the area. The projects are in the Valley of the Kings, where King Tutankhamun was found.
"You never know when they're going to discover it," LeRoy said. "It could be today or in years. Sometimes it's by accident, like a horse hoof going through the ground," revealing a hidden unknown discovery.
Dr. LeRoy wanted to help future history students with the costs of their education.
"I'm encouraging people to go into history and develop historical skills and be able to teach it, and maybe do research," LeRoy said. I didn't really define it further because there is so much you can do with history.
Endowments create a legacy for the creator of the scholarship and a future for the recipients. For more information on how you can give to annual or endowed scholarship, contact Catherine Scarlett, Director of Gift and Estate Planning, 509-963-3083.
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