Opportunities That Change Lives

John Wold (Class of 1966, Pharmacy) says it wasn’t his undergraduate research, his master’s degree, or his Ph.D., but rather his postdoctoral work in England that had the most influence in launching his career as a scientist. Having grown up in Fargo, he says he couldn’t have been farther from an ocean. Experiencing new cultures and landscapes, conducting new types of research, and networking with international scientists all played vital roles in John’s success. He couldn’t have taken his trip overseas without the help of a scholarship, and now he and his wife, Susan, are returning the favor to students in the study-abroad program today.

“Going abroad changed my career path, and it will do the same for the students who get the chance.”

John Wold, 1966, Pharmacy

Margaret and her husband, Hugh Veit ’79, established the Eleanor S. Fitzgerald Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship to support NDSU students earning advanced degrees in the Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences or the Department of Human Development and Family Science.

Core areas of home economics remain part of current NDSU degree programs such as accounting; apparel, retail merchandising, and design; education; family and consumer science; financial planning; human development and family science; interior design; and nutrition science.

Home economics programs opened doors, particularly for women, to earn college degrees and pursue careers in education, Extension, state and federal government, business and industry, health care, and more. NDAC listed domestic economy as one of its courses in its founding year, 1890.

Established by Dr. Teresa Conner, dean of the NDSU College of Health and Human Sciences, and co-chaired by Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald ’83 and Col. Esther Meyers ’75, the Wisdom Keepers provide support and share their knowledge and expertise with students, faculty, staff, and leadership in the College.

The home management house at NDAC was the first facility built on a college campus specifically for home management practice. In 1954, it was named in honor of Alba Bales, the first female academic dean at NDAC.