When Dan Ison talks about
Bellarmine University, you hear the pride in his voice. Dan is a member of the
Board of Overseers and former chair. He belongs to the Heritage Society and the
President’s Society.
His wife, Debbie Holloway,
shares that enthusiasm. Last Christmas, she found a way to express it, and
honor Dan, with a surprise that brought him to tears: the Dan R. Ison Endowed
Communication Scholarship.
“I was, to say the least,
very emotional at what a creative idea my wife had for a gift - something that
could keep on helping somebody else,” Dan says. The first scholarship will be
awarded in fall 2011 and will assist students majoring in the School of
Communication in recognition of Dan’s career in public and community relations
for Philip Morris, where he worked for 30 years.
“I hope this scholarship will
offer an opportunity for someone else to attend a prestigious university such as
Bellarmine and carry that knowledge forth into the business community,” he
says.
Dan came to Bellarmine in the
early 1970s after serving in Vietnam, working full-time for Philip Morris and
attending night classes. “I was a little intimidated by the idea of going back
to school. But I found I could relate with my professors. I loved the size of
the classes and the challenges the professors set out for us.”
He thrived in this
comfortable but challenging atmosphere – so much so that, paradoxically, he never
graduated. “Bellarmine was doing such a great job educating me that Philip
Morris started promoting me,” he says.
“But Bellarmine has been dear
to me my entire professional life – I’ve never forgotten the basics Bellarmine
taught me.”