News and Progress
Students to benefit from $500,000 sale of land
March 8, 2007
COLUMBIA, MO. -- A donation of farmland in southeast Boone County, Mo. will fund scholarships for students at the University of Missouri-Columbia for years to come. Mizzou alumnus Turner L. Vemer, of Las Cruces, N.M., donated 40 acres of land to MU in honor of his late wife, Elizabeth Nelson Vemer, with the intention of providing funds for scholarships. The University sold the land today for $500,000.
The proceeds from the sale of the Vemer farm will build the Elizabeth Vemer Memorial Minority Scholarship Fund in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences. Vemer served as a faculty member of the College and extension specialist until her death in 1991. The scholarship, established as a memorial shortly after her death, benefits outstanding minority students in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
“Elizabeth Vemer cared deeply about education and Missouri’s youth,” said MU Chancellor Brady Deaton. “Her dedication to minority families will live on through this generous scholarship fund.”
Elizabeth Vemer was known nationwide as an expert on adolescent sexuality and health and as a community action facilitator for youth. She taught courses in adolescence and family development, coordinated research, provided consultation for school districts and conducted workshops for teachers, counselors and nurses. She received three degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia: a B.S. in child and family development in 1981; an M.S. in child and family studies in 1983; and a Ph.D. in child and family development in 1987.
“Elizabeth believed that with a little encouragement young people can achieve their dreams,” Turner Vemer said. “I hope this scholarship encourages Missouri’s most promising students to attend MU and dedicate themselves to helping families and teenagers.”
Turner Vemer attended the MU College of Agriculture in the late 1940s. He farmed the land he donated, at New Haven and Rangeline Roads, before donating it to MU. Columbia Public Schools purchased the land from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The $500,000 received through the sale of the land will be included in the For All We Call Mizzou campaign total. The campaign has a goal of raising $1 billion by December 2008 and had raised $768 million by the end of January. The campaign enhances MU’s ability to compete nationally and internationally for the best students and faculty and provides broad access for students of all economic backgrounds to Missouri’s flagship university.