Brownfield family establishes scholarship
Hopwood native Harry Brownfield dedicated 43 years of his life to the education of students in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties; now his family is hoping to continue that impact in perpetuity. Brownfield died suddenly from acute leukemia in August 2007 at the age of 78. He served as executive director of the Intermediate Unit 1 from 1971 until his retirement in 1993. He had previously served as the Fayette County Superintendent of Schools. Brownfield began his career as a teacher and coach at Point Marion High School.
“He was a very professional guy who was really interested in young people and his students,” said his son, Todd Brownfield of Bethel Park.
To honor his memory, the family is setting up the Harry J. Brownfield Memorial Scholarship Fund at his alma mater, Slippery Rock University. Contributions to the fund are being accepted so it can be fully endowed, with scholarships given from the interest generated by the fund without drawing down the principle, Todd Brownfield said.
The scholarship was announced recently during a ceremony in which the Intermediate Unit 1 renamed its central office building in California in honor of its first executive director, Harry Brownfield.
The central office, located in California Borough, provides educational services in Fayette, Washington and Greene counties.
Ed Bucha, executive director of the Slippery Rock University Foundation, said the fund should be fully endowed and granting scholarships within the next two or three years, and could possibly be ready to hand out scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year. The scholarships will be awarded based on academic merit and financial need for incoming freshmen from Fayette, Greene or Washington counties. The scholarships apply to students pursuing all majors.
Bucha said it will be easy for students to apply for the scholarship.
“We list all the scholarships for incoming students right on the application form. They just need to check it off and they are automatically an applicant,” Bucha said.
Bucha said applicants might need to go through an interview process if there is no clear scholarship winner following the initial review by the scholarship committee.
Contributions to the scholarship fund can be made to:
The Harry J. Brownfield Memorial Scholarship Fund
Slippery Rock University Foundation Inc.
100 Old Main
1 Morrow Way
Slippery Rock, PA 16057
“We wanted to do something that continued the work he had done in education. We thought this would be a way to honor what he had done,” Todd Brownfield said.
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