HWS News
30 April 2025 Rickey Foundation Bolsters Support for Science Scholarship
In conjunction with Further Together: The Campaign for Our Third Century, the Brenda and Dave Rickey Foundation adds $100,000 to scholarship fund for chemistry majors.
For more than a decade, the George F. Rickey ’45 Endowed Scholarship for Chemistry has been supporting Hobart and William Smith chemistry majors as they pursue their classroom studies and important research in the lab. This year, a $100,000 gift from the Brenda and Dave Rickey Foundation strengthened the scholarship fund, enabling HWS to recognize exceptional students now and in the future. The gift was made in support of HWS’ Further Together: The Campaign for Our Third Century that launched last year.
“We are deeply grateful for Brenda and Dave Rickey’s longstanding support of Hobart and William Smith and the greater Geneva community,” says President Mark D. Gearan. “Their $100,000 gift increases access and ensures that Hobart and William Smith chemistry majors can continue to excel in their studies and research for years to come.”
Dave Rickey established the scholarship in 2006 in honor of his father George. “Brenda and I are delighted to contribute to the academic opportunities for chemistry students and thrilled to see the capital campaign for the integrated science center which will lead to further academic achievements,” he says.
George F. Rickey ’45 was an Army Air Corps veteran who after graduation worked as a chemical technologist at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva (now Cornell AgriTech). Recipients of the scholarship have gone on to careers in academia, business and healthcare.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Matthew Church ’14, who was a recipient of the Rickey Scholarship as a student, says, “I was a First Generation student at HWS with the onus of student loans, and the Rickey Scholarship was a lesson that hard work can be rewarded in unforeseen ways—it drove me to keep working hard, and was a fixed gem on a CV that carried me to where I am today.”
In addition to the George F. Rickey ′45 Endowed Scholarship, the Rickey Foundation has funded summer research and summer science programs at HWS. The foundation’s philanthropy has also had an important impact on Geneva, supporting Geneva General Hospital, the Boys and Girls Club of Geneva, Geneva Free Library, Geneva Music Festival, St. Peter’s Arts Academy, The Smith Center for the Arts and other organizations.
In recognition of his outstanding service to the HWS community, the country and his profession, Dave Rickey was awarded the HWS President’s Medal during the convocation ceremony in 2006. Geneva Rotary presented him with the Rotary Award in 2012.
Top: Assistant Professor of Chemistry Matthew Church '14, a past recipient of the George F. Rickey '45 Endowed Scholarship for Chemistry, works in the lab with Olufisola Babalola '27 and Zu Reyes '26 to measure the energy released and consumed by different kinds of chemical reactions using calorimetry.
