A $5,000 gift from University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren to the East Central University Foundation Inc. will increase the endowment fund of an ECU scholarship named for his wife, Molly Shi Boren.
With the endowment now at $15,000, the scholarship will provide additional assistance for the recipient and will be known as the Molly Shi Boren Centennial Scholarship. It will be awarded to a freshman, based on need, and will continue until the student graduates, as long as the student is enrolled in at least 12 hours each semester and maintains a 2.0 grade point average.
“It has been a pleasure working with the Borens on this scholarship,” said Phyllis Danley, executive director of the ECU Foundation. “A chance meeting and a casual conversation at Folger’s Hamburger Drive-In led to the establishment of this scholarship at the Centennial level, and ECU students for years to come will benefit from the Borens’ generosity.”
Molly Boren, a native of Ada, taught school after receiving an English degree from ECU. She completed both a master's degree in English and a law degree at OU. She began practicing law in Ada and was a special district judge for Pontotoc County from 1975 until 1977 when she married then-Gov. David Boren.
She was one of the youngest female judges in Oklahoma history.She was the first woman to serve on the Oklahoma Bar Association board of trustees and the first woman elected to the board of directors for the Ada Chamber of Commerce. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2004.