Harper College

Your Gifts at Work

Gifts At Work

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, over $2,300,000 was awarded during the 2019-20 academic year in scholarships, grants and awards to 1,054 students.  Learn more about our gifts at work and the donors whose generosity make these success stories possible.

Read About Your Gifts at Work

dustan scholarship recipient

Ian Dustan Memorial Nursing Scholarship

I have been given much and want to give much back. Scholarships to enable compassionate people to become pediatric nurses seem perfectly right to me. Read More

dustan scholarship recipient

Kolbusz-Kosan Endowed Scholarship

I have been given much and want to give much back. Scholarships to enable compassionate people to become pediatric nurses seem perfectly right to me. Read More

aleska_schwartz

Aleska Schwartz, 2019 HOPE Scholarship Recipient

In the spring of 2019, Aleska Schwartz completed her first year in the Engineering Pathways at Harper College. It was the first big step of many towards her goal of becoming a civil/environmental engineer. Read More

Oyinkansola Sol Akinola

2019 HOPE Giving Circle Recipient: Oyinkansola "Sol" Akinola

"I am determined to cultivate my own ethical and sustainable channel of production, focusing on the betterment of women of color.” - Oyikansola "Sol" Akinola Read More

 Dick Kolze and Peter Tschammer stand in the HVAC lab

Realizing Dreams: Dick Kolze and Peter Tschammer

Celebrating Harper's donors and the students' dreams they help realize. Read More

jori_donna

Realizing Dreams: Jori Giesey and Donna Penkava Grzegorek

Celebrating Harper's donors and the students' dreams they help realize. Read More

kristina_gaardbo

Harper alumna takes barbecue to new heights

Kristina Gaardbo, co-owner of Chicago Culinary Kitchen, credits her time as a student at Harper and the years in the nursing field with giving her the foundational skills to be a successful business owner and helping launch into this chapter of her adventure. Read More

Lorem ipsum

We Are Harper: Jeanine Liska

"This career will not be handed to you on a silver platter. I had to work hard to achieve my dreams and I love being able to help my students achieve theirs." – Jeanine Liska, Fire Science Technology Alumni, Faculty and Firefighter/Paramedic at Schaumburg Fire Department Read More

Jody Paine with scholarship recipients Sherry Baluch and Ana Sandoval

Polly's Kids Scholarship to benefit single parents studying at Harper

Olive “Polly” Paine was a visionary during her time, a highly educated woman – she earned a PhD from Yale in 1930 – who devoted her life to developing innovative early education programs. Her memory will continue to live on through Polly’s Kids Scholarship, providing single parents an opportunity to send a child to Harper College’s Early Childhood Laboratory while they pursue their studies at Harper. Read More

judith_blaylock

Judith Blaylock, Jim McGuire Memorial Scholarship Recipient

With the support of the Jim McGuire Memorial Scholarship, Judith Blaylock was able to turn her life around. Read More

Last Updated: 12/14/23