Fully endowed scholarship honors Paul Golliher’s contributions to the Trinity HCAD program
Beloved Trinity professor Paul E. Golliher, who retired in 1993, was all smiles at the HCADAA reception and dinner at Stonewerks where he was recognized and informed that the Golliher Scholarship Endowment Fund, established by the HCAD Alumni Association, had been fully endowed. “Deo Gratias!” he exclaimed. “The glass is no longer half full and future awardees can now ‘drink’ from it more fully. I shall be eternally grateful.”
Originally established in October 1988 as the Health Care Restricted Scholarship, the fund began awarding a $2,000 scholarship annually to a HCAD student. In 1990, a year before his retirement, the scholarship’s name was changed to the Paul E. Golliher Health Care Administration Scholarship Fund to honor and recognize Golliher’s instrumental role in establishing, guiding, and supporting the Association for decades. Over the years, gifts from alumni, parents, and friends brought the total in the fund to $62,345. Thanks to an infusion of nearly $38,000, raised by the Alumni Association during its 2015 celebration of the program’s fiftieth anniversary, the fund has reached its original goal of $100,000, the amount required for an endowment fund. Annual awards are now expected to be in the $6,000-$7,000 range in perpetuity.
Known for his strong moral compass, tempered with his Irishman’s gift of gab and rollicking sense of humor, Golliher joined Trinity’s HCAD faculty in 1968 and played a vital role in developing the program into one of the most rigorous and expansive in the country. Over the course of his 30 plus year tenure, he established residency placements for more than 1,300 students at the nation’s finest hospitals, nurturing them, mentoring them, and keeping up with their distinguished careers. In retirement, he retains his infectious joie de vivre and maintains close relationships with students, faculty, and alumni, a great many of whom hold top executive positions at some of the nation’s largest medical centers and best hospitals.
Reflecting on his career, Golliher says meeting his wife, Judy, and arriving at Trinity are what confirmed his belief in the Luck of the Irish. He says the most rewarding part of his Trinity career was getting to know and work with his many students. “They became a second family, year after year, after year.”
“I can think of no better way to continue to ensure Golliher’s legacy than to fully endow a scholarship in his name,” says Jim Bohnsack, B.S> '9, M.S.-HCAD '99, President of the HCAD Alumni Association. “Golliher has been an icon within the Trinity University HCAD community for as long as anyone can remember. He has served as a professor, chair, mentor, historian and comedian and holds a special place in each one of our hearts and minds.”
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