The Dr. Elizabeth V. Foster Memorial Scholarship
Criteria: (Amount Equal to One Full Annual Tuition Award) The Dr. Elizabeth V. Foster Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate student who is entering his or her junior or senior year of study. The applicant must have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. An essay should accompany the scholarship application and this essay should express the applicants desire to serve as a teacher and provide evidence of high professional standards and potential. The student may also provide a recommendation from a member of Worcester State University faculty. (Please send an original letter to the Financial Aid Office in Room 150 the Shaughnessy Administration Building.)
“Firm, friendly, fearless, fair!" To former students of Dr. Elizabeth Foster, that phrase was both a mantra and an apt description of their formidable professor. As director of teacher training at Worcester State Teachers College, Dr. Foster embodied all those qualities. She captivated students with the power of her personality, speaking her fiery lectures with rapid-fire intensity.
Dr. Foster’s personality “was such that she swept her listeners into the rapids of pedagogy, and carried one along at such a pace that inattentiveness was unimaginable, and one couldn’t visualize any other life besides teaching,” stated one of her students.
Dr. Foster taught, lectured, and cared for students at Worcester State for 28 years. She received her Bachelor of Science degree and master’s degree in Education from Bridgewater State Teachers College and her Doctor of Education degree from Boston University. Dr. Foster also studied under Dr. William Burton of Harvard University and introduced his unit method to her classes at WSTC. This interdisciplinary approach involved studying subjects such as math, geography, science, English and music in an integrated curriculum.
The principles she taught many years ago hold true for teachers practicing in the twenty-first century, and the influence this dedicated woman had on the teaching careers and the lives of the hundreds of students she taught is immeasurable.
Dr. Foster never forgot her students; indeed, after graduation she would sometimes visit their classrooms and offer earnest advice on how to be a better teacher. They, in turn, remembered her by establishing and supporting this scholarship fund in her name.
This award will create a living memorial to one of Worcester State University’s finest educators and will allow her name and accomplishments to be remembered by future generations of students.