The University of Eastern Finland has received a significant bequest from the United States. Amounting to roughly one million US dollars, the donation constitutes the principal capital of The Ida Kokkonen and Walter William Hill Memorial Student Fund. Grants awarded by the fund are geared towards enabling students to study full-time. The donation is based on the will of Walter Hill's spouse, Louise M. Hill.
The fund awards grants to Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students of the University of Eastern Finland who lack financial means to pursue their studies full-time and have to work alongside studying. Grants are primarily intended for students from the Northern Savo region, and secondarily for students from the regions of Southwest Finland and Satakunta. Grants may also be awarded to students from other parts of Finland. It is the hope of the donor that grantees would later support the fund through their own donations, and that they would also contribute to supporting the university.
Call for grant application for the academic year 2021–2022 open until the end of April
Grants may be awarded for a semester or for a year, and applicants’ financial situation, academic performance and engagement with society will be taken into consideration. Grantees will be selected by the Fund Committee. Grants are intended for completion of studies, which means that no more than 60 credits may be missing from an applicant’s degree. A call for grant applications for the next academic year will be open until 30 April 2021 at https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/F7443EB2A2FA877E (available in Finnish only). Grants may be awarded for the period 1 September 2021–31 May 2022, and they will amount to 300 euros per month.
Call for grant applications (available in Finnish only).
A tribute to Finnish roots
Louise Hill’s niece Rowena Monez believes that Louise Hill’s desire to help others comes from her own experiences. Louise Hill was financially supported through college by her aunt, but she later had to work while attending university to become a teacher. “Those were tough years, and I’m sure it motivated her to help students who are struggling financially.”
Louise Hill enjoyed a long career as a speech teacher and, after retirement, she accumulated her fortune by investing. Louise Hill passed away in 2019 at the age of 97. Her husband, Walter Hill, died already in 1992, at the age of 80. Monez remembers them as a closely knit couple who travelled a lot and actively followed news from all over the world.
Walter Hill was born in the United States, but his parents Ida Kokkonen and William Hill, originally known as Palomäki, had roots in the regions of Kuopio and Pori in Finland.
“Walter had a linguistic and artistic talent, and he had a university degree in industrial design and art. He also spoke Finnish and was very interested in the Finnish culture and society. He worked for the US Government in various capacities and, in 1945, he also accepted a brief foreign service assignment in Helsinki,” Monez says.
According to Monez, Walter Hill wanted to make a bequest to Finland in honour of his mother. “A bequest to the University of Minnesota, here in the States, is in honour of his father. Louise and Walter didn't have children and left their estate to charitable organisations arranging for scholarships to various schools. This is what they decided together while Walter was still alive.”
The will also included a significant donation to Louise Hill’s alma mater Centenary University, to a scholarships fund aimed specifically at ethnic minorities, and to have an impact on racial relations. The fund established at Centenary University is named after Louise Hill and Grace Y. Bisset, who supported her through college. “I think Louise’s work in the school system gave her an awareness of race inequality in America,” Monez says.
For further information, please contact:
Donation:
Petri Rintamäki, Legal Counsel, petri.rintamaki (a) uef.fi, + 358 50 575 9957
Grants:
Outi Suorsa, Career Counsellor, Secretary to the Fund Committee, outi.suorsa (a) uef.fi, + 358 50 375 2155
Sari Rissanen, Dean, Chair of the Fund Committee, sari.rissanen (a) uef.fi, + 358 40 594 3774
Photo on top: In the photo collage from left to right: Ida Kokkonen, Walter Hill and Louise Hill.
