Business owner creates MSU endowment fund

Michael Ingram, owner of Ingram Enterprises and Fireworks Across America, and his wife Barbara have created the Ingram Endowed Scholarship for students at Missouri State University who graduated from Parkview High School. The Ingrams are graduates of both.

The scholarship will be available to at least six students annually, beginning next fall. To qualify, applicants must be Parkview graduates who have financial need, are eligible for a Pell Grant and will not be receiving merit-based aid from MSU.

“No qualified student who wants to go to college should be denied that opportunity solely based on finances,” Michael Ingram said in a news release.

The Ingrams’ contribution marks 10 endowed scholarship funds created at MSU since July 2005, totaling nearly $2 million. The MSU Foundation is coming off a record year after receiving about $11.8 million in gifts and pledges; the previous record was set two years ago at $9.2 million.