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W. Terry McBrayer Scholarship for Excellence established

Terry McBrayer PictureThe Morehead State University Foundation has announced the establishment of the W. Terry McBrayer Scholarship for Excellence, an endowed fund to assist students with unmet financial need from Greenup County who will be attending Morehead State University. 

The scholarship’s namesake is the late W. Terry McBrayer (59), a native of Greenup County, who became an attorney, legislator, community activist and public servant in Kentucky and was recognized nationally. He was a senior partner and lead lobbyist for the widely respected McBrayer Law Firm. He founded McBrayer PLLC and MML&K Government Solutions.   

McBrayer earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from MSU in 1959 before graduating from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville in 1963. He was elected to the MSU Alumni Hall of Fame in 1966 and was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in 1975.   

In 2018, he created the W. Terry McBrayer Presidential Lecture Series in Government and Leadership to support his alma mater. Additionally, a prior contribution by McBrayer established the Presidential Scholarship Endowment within the MSU Foundation to address the priorities of recruitment, retention and degree completion.  

McBrayer passed away in October 2020 at the age of 83. His obituary can be found here (https://www.moreheadstate.edu/News/2020/October/MSU-alum-Terry-McBrayer-dies-at-83). 

The W. Terry McBrayer Scholarship for Excellence endowment is being created by his daughter, Sarah Savarie, who chose to make this contribution to fulfill her father’s wishes and to honor her father’s proud legacy as an MSU Eagle.   

“My father was very proud of his roots in Greenup County, as well as the time he spent at MSU and felt very strongly about the importance of an education,” said Savarie. “He wanted these scholarships to benefit students who might not otherwise be able to go to college due to unmet financial needs and I am simply finishing the process he started. His mother, Ethel Brown McBrayer, attended MSU in the early 30s and their legacy continues through Alex McBrayer, Dad’s grandson, who is currently a student at MSU.” 

Two scholarship recipients will be awarded each year to MSU students who are residents of Greenup County who attended Greenup County Schools and are in good academic standing. Students interested in applying for this scholarship, along with other privately funded scholarships managed by the MSU Foundation, should visit the online scholarship application at moreheadstate.awardspring.com.      

Those wishing to contribute to this fund to support worthy students from eastern Kentucky may do so at alumni.moreheadstate.edu/mcbrayer, or by mail at MSU Foundation, 121 East 2nd Street, Morehead, KY 40351. 

For more information on this scholarship, or to establish your own, contact MSU’s Office of Alumni Relations and Development at 606-783-2033, email giving@moreheadstate.edu