A scholarship fund has been established to honor retired A&M-Commerce faculty member and department head, Dr. Nolan McWhirter. This fund was started by Johnnie Davis of Goodwell, Oklahoma, a former student of Dr. McWhirter's. The purpose of the scholarship fund is to assist future science teachers with their college education.
Dr. McWhirter retired in 1982 and was a professor and department head in the earth science department. He currently lives at a retirement center in Commerce.
According to Johnnie Davis, and other former students, “He was a tremendous teacher, a great role model, and a good neighbor.” As time has passed, earth science is no longer a formal course in the middle school curriculum and the department of earth sciences has phased into an environmental science degree program. However, earth sciences are still an important component in the middle school science program, thus this scholarship is intended to help middle school science teachers.
The following letter was sent to persons on the current physics mailing list regarding a scholarship fund in memory of Dr. McDaniel.