Elena Sliepcevich earned her master’s in education from the University of Michigan in 1949 and a doctorate in physical education—the first woman to do so—from Springfield College in 1955. She went on to a distinguished career in health education at Southern Illinois University. Before she passed away in 2008, she had established a trust to benefit the causes that were most important to her, including the University of Idaho, from which she graduated in 1939 with a bachelor’s degree, and several charities in her home state of Montana. Among the beneficiaries of her estate was the Rackham Graduate School Enrichment Fund. Her gift will support research and travel grants for Rackham master’s and doctoral students and enable these promising scholars and practitioners to pursue projects that will enrich our understanding of some of the world’s most complex problems.
Published in: Alumni Updates
Keywords: masters finding funding alumni