FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION RECEIVES MAJOR BEQUEST

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., June 27, 2003 – The Southeast Missouri University Foundation has announced that a charitable bequest totaling more than $280,000 has been received from the estate of Frances Elizabeth Daniel.

In announcing the gift, Alan Zacharias, vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the Foundation, said the gift will establish the Frances Daniel Endowed Scholarship in the Harrison College of Business. Recipients must be graduates of the Charleston Missouri R-1 schools and studying business as a full-time student. Academic achievement and financial need also will be taken into consideration in awarding these scholarships.

Daniel was born Dec. 12, 1912, in Scott County, Mo., but lived most of her life in Charleston, Mo. She attended Charleston High School, where she graduated as valedictorian and attended Central Methodist College and Swinney Conservatory at Fayette, Mo., where she earned a bachelor of music degree. She later attended the Julliard School of Music in New York City.

When Daniel’s father, the late Ollie Daniel, died in 1937, she assumed the management of her family’s farm and her father’s general insurance agency which she successfully operated for the next 46 years. This was truly an achievement for a woman to own and operate a business in the 1930s.

Daniel believed in “doing business at home” and she made every effort to support her community. She was involved in numerous civic organizations and was chosen Honorary Woman of the Year by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce in 1969. Although she traveled extensively, she was always happy to return to her beloved home town of Charleston, Mo.

Daniel’s last will and testament reflected her interest in business, her love for music and her appreciation of her community by making substantial bequests, not only to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, but also to the colleges she attended and to the Mississippi County Library District.

“This scholarship is a wonderful testimony to the qualities Miss Daniel exemplified during her life and career,” said Dr. Gerald McDougall, dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business. “We are grateful for her generosity in establishing the scholarship fund which will allow students from her hometown to pursue and complete their business studies at Southeast.”

Established in 1983, the Southeast Missouri University Foundation raises and distributes funds that support the mission of Southeast Missouri State University. With assets exceeding $40 million, the Foundation assists donors in making current and deferred gifts for annual, capital and endowment purposes.