Anne Milner Fields and her great-nephew, alumnus Bryan Milner ('00), have pledged $1 million to UNT's College of Business to endow scholarships for study abroad opportunities.

The $1 million gift is eligible to be matched by Charn Uswachoke ('73 MBA) as part of his historic 2011 gift to UNT. Uswachoke set aside a portion of his $22 million gift for matching opportunities as a way to encourage more donors to support UNT.

Bryan says that the matching opportunity heavily influenced the timing and amount of his gift.

"The match allows us to double the impact of our pledge and support the study abroad programs that we're passionate about," Bryan says.

The Milner/Fields gift is given in tribute of beloved professor Peyton Foster Roden, who was affectionately known as "Doc" to his students. Doc taught Milner finance at UNT, and died last year after teaching at UNT for 37 years.

The Milner/Fields gift establishes the Peyton Foster "Doc" Roden Memorial Study Abroad Scholarship Fund. Milner, vice president of loan originations at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, took two study abroad trips to Cuernavaca, Mexico, with Roden.

UNT has a long-time exchange program with Tecnológico de Monterrey, Cuernavaca Campus, a relationship in which Roden was instrumental in establishing. Bryan and Anne's gift will allow 40 to 50 UNT students to study international business each semester.

Dean Finley Graves said the College of Business has set a goal of having at least 50 percent of its students exposed to other cultures, either through a short-term or semester-long study abroad experience, an international dual degree or an international internship.

"We are grateful to the Milner family for a gift that will be truly transformative for our students, many of whom would not have the opportunity to go abroad without these scholarships," Graves says. "Business is global, and if UNT's College of Business is to become a nationally recognized program, the college must internationalize its programs."

This is not the first gift from the Milner and Fields families. In 2004, Anne gave $400,000 to establish the James Byron Milner Scholarship in memory of her late brother, a rancher from East Texas. The full scholarship is awarded each year to a student from Bryan and Anne's hometown of Winnsboro, Texas.

Bryan says his great aunt has a strong belief in the importance of higher education. When he decided to return to college and finish his degree after a five-year absence, he attended the University of Texas at Austin straight out of high school, Anne paid for his UNT education. She has also paid for the education of several other relatives and a few people from her hometown of Winnsboro.

In addition to her belief in education, Anne was also passionate about travel. "She traveled everywhere," Bryan says. "She and her brother, Joe Milner, who was head of the journalism department at Arizona State, took my cousins and me all over Europe and South America. We went on great trips."

Inspire a UNT Student With a Gift
Join with other valued UNT alumni and friends in providing current and future students with invaluable academic experiences. For more information on ways to give, contact Roy Grisham, CPCU at 940-565-3686 or roy.grisham@unt.edu today.