Cooper Honors Business Scholarship

Salisbury-area locals and SU alums Don ’77 and Debra Cooper ’80 have created a scholarship fund for the Honors College to benefit two deserving students every year. They created an endowment that will start impacting the lives of students immediately, enabling Don and Debra to get to know the students whose lives they are able to benefit. Wanting to honor the programs from which they earned their SU degrees, their annual scholarship fund will be split between an Honors College nursing and business major.

“We both had a strong desire to give back to the community while promoting excellence in learning. This desire was fortified after attending a recent Honors College reception showcasing several of the Honors students and their cutting-edge research. These students were engaging and impressed us with their knowledge, determination and motivation to accomplish big things. It is our hope that our contribution can help to further enhance their undergraduate research experience.”

Don’s career started at Cooper-Ruark insurance. In 1979, the company was incorporated as Cooper Insurance Agency Inc. and he became president in 2009. After his mother passed in 2015, he became the sole owner. Debra’s nursing career began at PRMC three years after graduating SU, and then went to Wicomico County Health Dept. and retired after 30+ years of service to the community.