Thomas A. Dingledine Scholarship Endowment for Achievement in Academics & Service

An endowed scholarship established by Tom Dingledine and Karyn Gunther Smith.

Although neither donor is a graduate of James Madison University, both feel strongly connected to the university through the Dingledine family. For many, the name “Dingledine” is synonymous with the history of the institution. Tom is the grandson of Raymond and Agness Dingledine, Sr., or “Mr. Ding” and “Mama Ding” as they were affectionately known to their students. Dr. Dingledine was a faculty member for twenty-five years in the Department of History. Mrs. Dingledine was a beloved housemother for whom Dingledine Hall was named in 1969. Raymond Dingledine, Jr., Tom’s uncle, was on the faculty for thirty-five years as head of the Department of History and wrote the definitive history of the university’s first fifty years. The donors are not educators by profession, but see philanthropy as the way to participate in a significant way in the educating of deserving students. The Thomas A. Dingledine Scholarship Endowment for Achievement in Academics & Service is the third endowment the donors have created at James Madison University. The first, the Agness Dingledine Memorial Scholarship, honors the memory of “Mama Ding”, while the Raymond C. Dingledine, Sr. Endowment for Leadership Scholarship was created to commemorate Tom’s grandfather while honoring his father, William Dingledine. Each of these scholarships recognizes students who make service a central theme in their lives even as they excel in the classroom.

The Donor’s intent in creating the Thomas A. Dingledine Scholarship Endowment for Achievement in Academics & Service is to give the university the means to recruit, as freshmen, students with the same qualities as those now being honored with the scholarships in Tom’s grandparents’ names. This was the first, four-year scholarship to be established within the Bluestone Scholars Program at James Madison University.

The Thomas A. Dingledine Scholarship Endowment for Achievement in Academics and Service will provide the financial resources for four-year scholarships in an amount approximating the total of tuition & fees for an in-state student which will be awarded annually to incoming freshmen. Based on the level of available financial resources, the number of scholarships may be adjusted over time to provide for more or less scholarships.

The Scholarship will be administered by the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships provided, however, that the following additional considerations shall be taken into account:

-In addition to demonstrating excellence in academics, Dingledine Scholars also will have demonstrated a commitment to helping others, as defined and ascertained by the scholarship selection committee.
-In any given year, the scholarship amount will be the same for all students who receive this scholarship, without regard to the student’s residence; provided, however, that the university may choose to supplement the scholarship award for out-of-state students with funds from other sources.
-The in-state/out-of-state distribution of awardees will approximate the geographical make-up of the overall student population.
-While financial need is intended to be a factor in the determination of the students who will receive this scholarship, the Donors direct that the scholarship selection committee shall have discretion to incorporate this factor into their decision process in a manner of the committee’s choosing; provided, however, that the Donors expect that at least half of the scholarships awarded in a given year shall go to students for whom receipt of this scholarship would make a tangible difference in their capacity to attend James Madison University.
-The applicant’s stated professional objective shall not be a factor in the evaluation of scholarship applicants.
-To have the scholarship renewed from year to year, a recipient must sustain a high level of involvement at James Madison University and in the community. The criteria for evaluating such involvement shall be defined and determined at the discretion of the program mentor, currently the Dean of the Honors College.
-The scholarship selection committee shall be appointed annually by the Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships for James Madison University.

Beyond the above criteria, the appointment of a student as a Thomas A. Dingledine Scholar shall follow the University’s guidelines for the awarding of scholarships.