Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) is pleased to announce the creation of a new student scholarship to honor veterans. The scholarship, called the Founders Honor the Veterans scholarship is funded by generous donations from university founders Michael Skurja, Jr., DPT, ECS (Emeritus), and Richard P. Nielsen, PT, DHSc, ECS.
Both of the founders–President Nielsen, who serves as president of RMUoHP, and Skurja, who served in various academic and administrative roles at RMUoHP before retiring and now serving as Chair of the Board of Trustees–spent fifty combined years in the military and served during the Vietnam and Persian Gulf conflicts.
“We were stationed together for three years at the Naval Hospital in Camp Pendleton, California, and another three at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia,” said Skurja. “In addition to serving as physical therapists, we both held positions in administration and executive medicine leadership during our careers.”
For both of them, they have the desire to support military education because of the support they received throughout their careers. “We both understand the importance of receiving monetary assistance for education. [Nielsen] and I are both blessed that we are now able to provide some monetary assistance to veterans who have served our wonderful country,” said Skurja.
Currently, 21 veterans are enrolled as students in various programs at RMUoHP, and the University has historically connected with and supported pursuits of higher education for military veterans.
“Early in the development of RMUoHP because of our network of military healthcare providers many of our faculty and program directors were either retired military or in some cases were still on active duty. Often people joked that RMUoHP actually stood for ‘Retired Military University of Health Professions’. And, even to this day, we have retired military healthcare providers that either teach at RMUoHP or serve on research committees,” said Nielsen.
The Founders Veterans Scholarships were developed for the student veterans at the University to help further their careers in healthcare. Scholarships and Veterans Benefits Coordinator Joseph Colflesh said, “This scholarship will help alleviate the enormous expense of attaining an advanced degree in a healthcare specialty field that is in huge demand.”
For more information and to apply for the scholarship, visit the Financial Aid website.
