Schaffer Family Endowed Scholarship

Drs. Deborah and Rachel Schaffer are professors of English at MSU Billings and have been actively involved in campus life since arriving in 1983. Over that time their professionalism, volunteerism and accomplishments have garnered them much-deserved praise and recognition. Rachel has been a member of the MSU Billings Foundation Board and received the MSU Billings Faculty Achievement Award in 1997 and 2008. In 1998 and 2011, Deborah also received the MSU Billings Faculty Achievement Award. In addition, the Associated Students of MSU Billings have awarded both Deborah and Rachel the Outstanding Faculty Award. These honors are indicative of the high esteem in which the Schaffers are held by their peers and students alike. Their father, Dr. Elliott J. Schaffer, was a role model for them in both education and philanthropy, establishing several endowments in New York State for scholarships and libraries, with the support of his wife, Bernice S. Schaffer, and making generous donations to the Parmly Billings and MSU Billings libraries after moving to Montana in 1999. To honor the memory of their parents and continue their tradition of philanthropy, Rachel and Deborah established the Schaffer Family Endowed Scholarship for English majors in 2005. The first scholarship was awarded in 2006-2007.