Walleri honored by scholarship

By NICK NGO

The legacy of Dan Walleri helping students succeed lives on through the new Robert Daniel Walleri Scholarship.

Walleri died July 9 from a stroke two days prior. He served as the head of research and development. His job was to collect data and use it to help the college develop strategic plans for the future.

The Walleri Scholarship is a Portland State University scholarship that awards $1000 to Mt. Hood Community College students who are transferring to PSU. Sheri Mosher, associate director of human of resources and a member on the Dan Walleri Scholarship committee, said the scholarship is to help students be successful in life, moving on from MHCC to earning a bachelor’s degree.

Mosher said after his death, “People, his family particularly, began to plan how to honor his work in education.”

Walleri’s wife Lisa, along with her family, came up with the idea in the fall. She saw the award as a way to symbolize his commitment to the development of a strong partnership between community colleges and four-year institutions, particularly MHCC and PSU.

A planning committee from PSU and MHCC began to work on the details of the scholarship in January. The committee was made up of Lisa Walleri; PSU representatives Dr. Mary Kinnick, Jo Lucke, Leslie Aaron; MHCC representatives Mosher, Sunny Klever, and the scholarship staff in the financial aid office.

Mosher said PSU worked on the paperwork for setting up the scholarship at their college.
“On the Mt. Hood side we made the commitment to publicize it, to get the word out to the students,” Mosher said. “And to gather those applications that come in and make sure they have all the materials they need to complete it and get them to Portland State.”

The funding from the scholarship came from contributors. Mosher said people from local areas donated money as well as people across the nation, since Walleri was known nationally for his work as well. The committee was pleased with people responding to the scholarship by donating money.

To apply for the scholarship, students must meet the criteria. Some of the requirements are having 60-90 transferable quarter credit hours, or a minimum of 60 earned credit hours at MHCC by the end of spring term.

The students also need a grade point average of 2.5 or above. Also, they have to provide a photocopy of all college transcripts, going by term, a cumulative GPA and a photocopy of their spring term course schedule.

More information is found on the application form. Application forms can be found in the Financial Aid Office and online under the financial aid section.
The deadline for application is May 26.