Students in the visual and performing arts have new opportunity to pursue their dreams of higher education at Lamar University thanks to the generosity of Gay and Bill Scott of Nederland.
The couple has established the Edna Duckworth and Nita Mixon Scott Presidential Scholarship in Visual and Performing Arts in honor of their mothers. Presidential scholarships established at the Lamar University Foundation require a minimum contribution of $50,000. The endowment generates income that is budgeted toward student scholarships.
Gay and Bill Scott are both Lamar University graduates. Bill is chairman and chief executive officer of Trans-Global Solutions, Inc. Gay is an active volunteer for efforts ranging from the Julie Rogers “Gift of Life” Program and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) to Catholic Charities, St. Anne School and Birthright. Bill serves on the university’s College of Business Board of Advisors and recently was elected president of the Three Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The couple will be the honorees at the 2008 Le Grand Bal, the College of Fine Arts and Communication’s annual fund raiser, March 29.
The scholarship is in memory of Gay’s mother, Edna Taylor Duckworth. She was born in Port Neches in 1920 and graduated from Port Neches High School in 1938. She married Joe Thomas Duckworth in 1945. She worked in the construction industry with Joe for Lummus Construction before becoming a full-time mother raising her son and four daughters. In 1954, she and husband founded Duckworth Supply Co., providing goods and services to the local oil, petrochemical and construction industry for more than 30 years.
When Joe Duckworth died in 1976, Edna took over the day-to-day management of Duckworth, Inc. and was company president for the next 10 years. By this time, Duckworth, Inc., had evolved into a construction company erecting metal buildings throughout Southeast Texas. Edna was one of small number of women business owners and operators in Jefferson County during the 1970s and 1980s.
She was active member of St. James Catholic Church, a community volunteer and an avid bridge player, as well as an example of faith and love.
The scholarship honors Bill’s mother, Nita Mixon Scott. She was born in 1918 and grew up in a family that loved music. Her father played six musical instruments and organized the first orchestra in the small Oklahoma town where she was raised. Her grandmother’s music room held the only grand piano in town and it was there that she cemented her love for music.
During World War II, Nita met and married Dewitt Scott while he was on leave from the Marine Corp. She worked for the U.S. Soil and Water Conservation Service in Southeastern Oklahoma and for the U.S. Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth. In 1957, the couple moved to Port Arthur, where she worked for the U.S. Postal Service. In 1974, she and Dewitt founded Econo-Rail Corp. The business began leasing railroad locomotives to local industry and in the early 1980s expanded into other railroad-related services. She served as president of Econo-Rail for more than 25 years.
In the late 1980s, the company expanded into bulk handling and port development in Houston and Beaumont. The business continued to grow until it was the largest bulk handling business in Texas, moving more than 11 million tons of bulk products in 2004. In 2005, the port facilities portion of the business was sold to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. Nita remained active in the family business into her mid-80s. She continues to be interested in music and the arts.
An active member of Aldersgate Trinity United Methodist Church since 1957, she is honored as a great wife, mother, savvy business manager and a positive example to many.
Lamar University Foundation is a private nonprofit entity organized under the laws of the State of Texas solely for the benefit of Lamar University. The Foundation serves as the preferred channel for private gifts to all areas of Lamar and supports and enhances the educational mission of the University. Located in the John Gray Center, the Foundation is governed by an all-volunteer board of trustees.
Although the University is a state-assisted institution, private philanthropy provides the funds necessary to attract and retain the finest students and faculty to Lamar, and provides much of the financial aid that many students need to reach their educational goals.
Through endowments, planned gifts and special-purpose campaigns, the Foundation works closely with University administration to generate private support from alumni and friends to further the mission of the University.
For more information about establishing endowments at Lamar University, call (409) 880-2117.
