Minnier endows scholarship in honor of parents

Pitt-Bradford alumna and Bradford native Tamra Minnier is the consummate hometown girl made good.

Minnier, the chief quality officer for UPMC, overseeing quality and safety initiatives at the integrated health system, is giving back to her alma mater in the form of a scholarship in honor of her mother and late father, the Marilyn and Glenn Minnier Endowed Nursing Scholarship.

“I come from very humble beginnings, and my relationship with Pitt-Bradford began in junior high school,” she said. At that time, Minnier's mom, Marilyn, took a job in the Humanities Division at Pitt-Bradford to ensure that her daughter could attend college. (Free tuition for dependents is a benefit provided by Pitt to its employees).

“From that point forward, I always was connected to Pitt-Bradford,” she said. Minnier's father, a retired farmer turned handyman, was tied to the university through doing odd jobs for Pitt-Bradford's first president, Dr. Donald Swarts, and his wife, Dr. Mary Swarts. Even after Donald Swarts had died, Glenn Minnier continued to help Mary Swarts take care of her home, and the two grew close.

Glenn Minnier, who died seven years ago, was the kind of person who was always helping out others by plowing the whole street free from snow or mowing a neighbor's yard.

So it made sense that when Minnier wanted to recognize her parents together for the sacrifices they made for her education, her thoughts turned to a place dear to both her and her parents.

A matching gift made from an anonymous donor sealed the deal.

“It was just the right thing to do,” Minnier said.

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a nursing student who demonstrates great financial need and who carries a grade point average of 3.4 or higher.

Minnier was a member of the first nursing class at Pitt-Bradford, where she said she was the only traditionally aged student. She said she recognizes that nursing is still often a second career and that nontraditional students have many things to balance beside their school work. For that reason, she said, she chose to make the scholarship for a student doing well in school, but not to set the grade point average unrealistically high.

“Hardship comes in many forms,” said Minnier, who also sits on the scholarship review committee of the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. She hopes to ease the burden for some promising Pitt-Bradford nursing students.

The first scholarship will be awarded for the 2016-17 academic year.

To find out more about starting a scholarship at Pitt-Bradford, contact Jill Ballard, executive director of Institutional Advancement at 814-362-5091 or jballard@pitt.edu.