Nancy Kelty Stengel, a 1970 University of Mississippi pharmacy graduate, was heavily influenced by her maternal grandparents to stay in school, and she is expressing her gratitude by building a scholarship endowment in their names.
The Earnest Buford and Katherine Branch McDaniel Memorial Scholarship in the School of Pharmacy is nearing $380,000, thanks to continuing gifts from Stengel, a retired manager of one of the University of Kentucky Medical Center’s outpatient pharmacies.
“Poor as they were, my grandparents were powerful inspirations for my life,” Stengel said about her grandfather, a sharecropper who finished the fourth grade, and her grandmother, who finished the eighth grade. “My grandfather encouraged me from the time I was a young child to stay in school. He didn’t want me to have to work in the cotton fields as he had.”
Stengel was among the McDaniels’ more than 20 grandchildren.
“My grandfather had wanted to see all 10 of his children graduate from high school, so he was ecstatic when he learned his oldest grandchild was enrolling at Ole Miss,” she said. “The best way I could honor their memories and aid other students with such expensive education is to fund a scholarship endowment. For students who want to attend pharmacy school, my scholarship will help defray some major expenses.”
First, second and third preferences for the McDaniel Scholarship in Pharmacy will go to students from Holmes, Attala and Madison counties in Mississippi, all communities that Stengel’s grandparents called home. Fourth preference is designated for Mississippians.
“I hope the long-term impact of this scholarship will be that Mississippi will have outstanding young pharmacists who can impact the health and welfare of its citizens, and those who leave Mississippi will likewise have an impact wherever they go,” Stengel said.
Donna Strum, dean of the nationally recognized UM School of Pharmacy, expressed her appreciation to Stengel for her generous scholarship endowment.
“Nancy Stengel is the epitome of an outstanding graduate. She built an impressive career, which brought her great enjoyment and to which she was deeply committed. Now, she has chosen to give back to her school to pave the way for others to benefit from the personally and professionally rewarding career of pharmacy.
“Mrs. Stengel has strengthened the School of Pharmacy with her tremendous support, which will transform many lives,” Strum said.
In addition to her desire to pay tribute to her grandparents, Stengel said she’s supporting her alma mater because “the years I was at Ole Miss were the best years of my life and I have gratitude to the School of Pharmacy for what I learned and was able to use in my professional practice. I wanted to give back because of my love of the pharmacy school and Mississippi.”
Stengel described the career preparation she received from Ole Miss as “outstanding.”
“I spent most of my career at the University of Kentucky (UK) in an outpatient pharmacy. I could see the knowledge I had from my school in comparison to those who had attended other schools. Ole Miss prepared me to serve patients better and helped me to deal with things such as the opioid crisis that started before I retired.
“I enjoyed meeting all the wonderful patients and helping them with their health care,” Stengel said of her career. “I cared about the patients and worked hard to give them the top-level service they deserved.”
Stengel’s family has had a strong health care tradition through the years. A paternal uncle finished pharmacy school. Her paternal grandfather, father and first cousin were all physicians.
After graduation from Ole Miss, Stengel first worked at a pharmacy in Columbus, Mississippi, and then in her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. Her late husband, Don, earned a pharmacy degree from the University of Texas and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Tennessee, completing a residency in sterile products. Friends at UT told Don Stengel about an Ole Miss pharmacist living in Lexington, and he gave her a call. That was in February and by December they were married.
Don Stengel worked as a manager of inpatient pharmacy at UK Medical Center. He passed away in 2011. The couple’s daughter, Mary, earned an accountancy degree from UK.
Nancy Stengel is an inaugural member of the School of Pharmacy’s 1908 Society. Named for the year the school was founded, the 1908 Society represents the philanthropic vision for major support directed to the school. Its members are invested in empowering the students, educators, scientists and practitioners of the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy. Private giving, among other indicators, has contributed to the School of Pharmacy being one of the most productive and highest-ranked pharmacy schools in the country.
To make a gift to the Earnest Buford and Katherine Branch McDaniel Memorial Scholarship Endowment, send a check with the fund noted in the memo line to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655 or online here.
For information on how to support the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy, contact Laura Gullett, associate director of development, at laurahg@olemiss.edu or 662-915-2384.
By Tina H. Hahn/UM Development