The Germeraad Memorial Health Scholarship

Randall S. Germeraad (Randy) is a 1975 education graduate and is the former executive chairman of Springfield (IL) Electric Supply Company, an electrical distributor in the Midwest. Randy began his career as a resource teacher for a truant alternative school in Springfield and was a resource teacher for the Sangamon Area Special Education District. In 1979, Randy joined Springfield Electric and held many roles over the course of his career, including operations, procurement and supply chain management, sales, and management.

He serves on, and is the former chair of, Memorial Health and Memorial Medical Center boards of directors, and he is a former chair of Memorial Behavioral Health. He also served as board chair for the Springfield Memorial Medical Center Foundation.

Randy is President of the Western Illinois University Foundation Board of Directors and is a former College of Education and Human Services advisory board member.

Katherine (Kathy) is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia where she majored in elementary education. Kathy taught for 5 years and while raising their children, became very active in supporting non-for-profit agencies in the Springfield area. One of the early groups she was involved with was Friends of Memorial, where they focused on health education. She additionally went on to serve as chair of the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, where they focus on connecting people who care with causes that matter.

Randy and Kathy are strong advocates for improving the health of individuals in all the communities where Memorial Health has affiliates. Healthy communities are strong communities. Memorial’s vision is to improve lives and build stronger communities through better health.

Randy and Kathy started this scholarship to support a stronger connection between the WIU Nursing program and Memorial Health.

CRITERIA & ELIGIBILITY:
• Recipient must be accepted into the school of nursing program
• A 500 word essay on why the student wants to be a nurse
• Two letters of recommendation (at least one must be from a WIU professor)
• Recipients must complete a contract agreeing to work for Memorial Health for two years upon graduation
• No minimum ACT or SAT score required, but may be used in consideration when granting awards
• Recipients will be required to join the WIU Student Nurses Association and remain a member while receiving the scholarship.

An additional $5,000 will be awarded from Memorial Health. Total schoalrship award amount is $10,000.