A Season of Giving

New Scholarships for Honors Students

by Ava Neumaier

Honors students at the University of Iowa may be inundated with hundreds of unread emails a week. But starting in November, a special email from Student Scholarship and Development Specialist Candice Wuehle has the potential to ease a student’s financial burden and perhaps change their life.

Three named, endowed scholarships are opening their portals at the end of Fall semester, and Director of the University

Honors Program Shaun Vecera is excited to introduce them to potential future recipients. Vecera is part of the team at the Center for Advancement, located at the Levitt Center, who selects the honors students who are awarded these incredible opportunities.

“My role as Director is to help make sure as we award scholarships, we’re being good stewards of the gifts we’ve been given,” Vecera said. He ensures the selection committee follows donor intent and finds the strongest student who fits the three awards endowed for this upcoming semester. 

The Carla and Carl Fackler Honors Scholarship was endowed in 2023 by Carl Fackler (64BA, 67MS, 69MD) and Carla Fackler (65BA, 70MA) to provide one or more scholarships to students in the University of Iowa’s Honors Program who demonstrate merit and have good academic standing. Preference may be given to students who are Iowa residents, demonstrate 

financial need, and are first- generation college students. The Facklers met at Iowa, and both received scholarships that inspired them to carry forward the gift of financial aid to future students. 

The continuation of this cycle of giving is a common theme in the year’s scholarships. “For a lot of these donors, this seed was planted when they were students,” said Vecera. “They had a good experience, they saw the benefit in the Honors Program, and that became something really important. When the opportunity came to give back, the Honors Program was high on their list.”

Charles Montange (72BGS, 72BA) is another one of these donors. His Montange/Patterson Scholarship Fund was endowed in 2024 and was born from Montange’s own experience receiving the James D. Robertson Award when he attended the UI. He was gifted full tuition for one year and now seeks to approximate that award as closely as possible with his own endowment. His fund specifically supports honors students in their senior year, who graduated from an Iowa high school, and who are majoring in predominantly STEM majors including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, or geoscience.

“It’s important for us to prioritize for Iowa residents,” Vecera noted. “That’s still where most students in the Honors Program are from, and I like the awards that point to students who may need the extra financial support as well. That helps us make sure we can support students in a way we couldn’t have otherwise.”

The second Iowa native was Michael John Thomas (67BA), whose Honors Program Scholarship Fund was endowed in 2025. The most recent of the scholarships, this fund aims to support students with financial need. Even though Thomas pursued a law degree from the University of Michigan and took supplemental coursework at New York University, the proud Iowa native returned to his roots to contribute to the continued education of UI students.

The scholarships draw interest in an account over a number of years and accrue more scholarship money that can be gifted to students. As the cost of living increases, the Center for Advancement communicates with donors to match the modern student’s financial needs.

The scholarship portal opens in late November and continues to accept submissions until early February. Vecera and the Center for Advancement begin reading the applications in the spring, and then announce decisions in late March. Each scholarship is for the following academic year. If a student receives a scholarship this upcoming spring, it shows up on their UBill for fall semester.

For any scholarship that has a living donor in the area, Vecera helps arrange meetings between them and the student recipient of their award. “Students can sit down and put a face to the award,” Vecera said. “That’s always a nice opportunity for everyone involved.” 

For out-of-state donors, recipients can record a message at the Center for Advancement through a program called

 ThankView.

“One of the best parts of my job is when we’re able to award scholarships,” Vecera said. “The hardest part is also that we can't award one to everyone! Having our own pool of scholarships is a great way to attract students to the program and support them once they arrive on campus.”

“We don’t just keep students here, work with them for four years, and then send them on their way. What we do in the honors experience is turn them into not only alumni of the university, but also alumni of the program. Hopefully that means they have a good experience and will want to give back in any way they can.” 

As scholarship season begins again, students should keep an eye on their emails to see if they can join the many honors students gifted these life-changing opportunities.