Scholarships

English Scholarships

Charles Patrick Estill Memorial Scholarship Endowment
Award $1,500
The Charles Patrick Estill Memorial Endowed Scholarship is established by Robert E. Estill of Houston, Texas in honor of his Great-Grandfather, Charles Patrick Estill. Charles was born November 2, 1834, in Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was the eldest son of Harry Miller Estill M.D. and Mary Jane Patrick, and was educated at Washington College (now Washington and Lee) and the University of Virginia. Estill served as a captain of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. After the war, his wife (Kate Fishburne) and five children remained in Virginia while he sought work in Texas. Charles became the superintendent of schools in Brenham and Bryan, Texas before joining the faculty of Austin College in Huntsville as professor of language. After a stint teaching at Texas A&M, Estill returned to Huntsville as professor of English Literature at the newly opened Sam Houston Normal Institute. He died August 8, 1882, (age 47) in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, and is buried there in Oakwood Cemetery. The donor and his family have deep Texas roots, and he has proudly supported higher education for Texas citizens at Sam Houston State University. Robert is grateful for the years he spent at Sam Houston State. In his estimation, they were among the most memorable and important years of his life.

Genevieve Sandhop Endowed Scholarship
Award $1,000
The Genevieve Sandhop Endowed Scholarship was established by Edwin G. Sandhop, Jr. ‘48 and his wife Genevieve Durham Sandhop ’56, MA ’60 to assist students in obtaining their academic goals. Mr. Sandhop has dedicated himself to his company and his community for more than 60 years, with the backing of his employer and friends, Ed helped establish a new school, a local hospital, a center for performing arts, an animal shelter, several charities and in the process set new standards for good citizenship. Genevieve, Ed’s sweetheart of 67 years, is also a graduate of Sam Houston State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degree in English. Genevieve continued her post graduate work at Texas A&M University, and was an English professor at Sam Houston State University for 36 years. Now retired, Genevieve continues her interest in the education of young people.

J. Philip Gibbs, Jr. Endowed Scholarship in English
Award $1,000
The J. Philip Gibbs, Jr. Endowed Scholarship in English was established by Lu Ellen Gibbs of Huntsville, Texas and Billy C. Miller of Palacios, Texas in memory of her husband J. Philip Gibbs. Lu Ellen Gibbs earned a master ’s degree in English at Sam Houston State University in 1959. Through her involvement with the Community Theater in Huntsville, she met J. Philip Gibbs, whom she married in 1940. Mr. Gibbs later became board chair for First National Bank and for Gibbs Brothers and Company, a land and timber investment firm that was founded in 1841 as a mercantile store and is thought to be the oldest company in Texas still under original family ownership. Mrs. Gibbs was honored as a Distinguished Alumni of Sam Houston State University in 1986.This endowment was established by Lu Ellen Gibbs and Billy C. Miller in memory of her husband J. Philip Gibbs.

Mary Louise Embry Estill Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Award $1,500
This endowment is being established in perpetuity to honor Mary Louise Embry Estill’s support of education and her profession as and educator. It is also being established with the intent of encouraging students to pursue a teaching career at the university level in the field of English or related disciplines, and to provide financial assistance to selected students who have met the criteria

Paul Ruffin Creative Writing Award
Award Varies
This award was established in memory of Paul Ruffin, by D.C. Berry, to provide financial assistance to selected students who are full-time graduate students at SHSU. D.C. Berry earned a BS from Bob Jones University and another from Delta State. He spent 1967 and 1968 in Vietnam, and then earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Tennessee in 1972. He taught at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers, Hattiesburg. where for years he was Poet in Residence. There he published hundreds of poems, and three times won the Excellence in Teaching Award, while being honored as the Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Professor in the Humanities. Berry was a close fiend of Dr. Paul Ruffin for many years, and tells fabulous tales of the years he spent at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg where he shared a house with Ruffin.

Paul Ruffin was born in Millport, Alabama, in 1941. After graduating from Columbus Public Schools, he entered the U.S. Army for a brief tour of duty. After completing his tour. Ruffin enrolled at Mississippi State University (MSU) in Starkville, Mississippi. Ruffin was hired as an English instructor at Mississippi State University. After one year at MSU, he joined the faculty at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Texas. Ruffin and his wife Sharon had two children before they divorced in 2006. Paul Ruffin was the Founding Editor of The Texas Review and served as Editor-in-Chief for forty years. He founded Texas Review Press in 1979 and was the director of the Press until his death. In 2009, Ruffin was named Texas State Poet Laureate. He was awarded the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Award for Circling. In addition to several books, he had over fifty stories and over 500 poems published in many journals and magazines. His works also appear in various anthologies. Paul Ruffin passed away on April 14, 2016 at the age of 74.

Paul Ruffin Fellow in Publishing
Award $5,000
The Paul Ruffin Fellow in Publishing scholarship was established by Texas Review Press in memory of press founder and Director Dr. Paul Ruffin. This scholarship is for a graduate student in the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing in the department of English who has completed their first year of study, and who has demonstrated excellent ability as an intern for Texas Review Press. The scholarship will be fully funded for 20 hour per week interns and half-funded for 10 hour per week interns.

Pease Family Endowed Scholarship
Award Varies
Pease Family Endowed Scholarship Fund was established by Ralph and Linda Pease to assist students with educational costs. Ralph W. Pease Ill earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas before serving his country for four years in the United States Marine Corps. Pease joined Sam Houston Stale University in 1972, where he began a 45-year teaching journey that only partially drew to a close in 2017 when he announced his retirement. Throughout his career, Pease especially enjoyed teaching Twain and Shakespeare and he taught his beloved “Literature and Film” class for more than three decades earning excellent teaching evaluations and spawning two generations of film lovers. Pease won SHSU’s, “Excellence in Teaching Award” in 1983 and the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award in 1987, the latter award honoring ten professors statewide for ‘outstanding academic, scientific, and scholarly achievement and for dedication to the teaching profession.’ He was elected to the SHSU College of Humanities and Socials Sciences “Humanities Wall of Honor” in 2018. Even in his retirement. Pease ‘s teaching and civic engagement continues. He teaches regular film classes at the Wynne Home Aris Center where he also volunteers under the supervision of his wife, Linda Pease, the city’s Cultural Services Coordinator.

Linda Pease currently serves as the City of Huntsville’s Cultural Services Coordinator. Through this position she helps direct and manage the Wynne Home Arts Center, an adapted historic mansion that includes an art gallery for rotating exhibits. Linda was responsible for the rehabilitation and for the on-going operation of the Center. She has served as an advisor to the Huntsville Arts Commission and has managed programming for the City’s library, for the City’s award winning recreation program, and for downtown revitalization. Linda has served on several Sam Houston State University committees and the COME Center Organization Board. Linda has been married to Dr. Ralph Pease, retired SHSU Professor of English for 57 years. They have two sons, John, an attorney in Dallas, and Jim, a photographer in Los Angeles, and two grandchildren.

Ruthannah Brown Endowed Scholarship in the Teaching of English
Award $1,000
The Ruthannah Brown Endowed Scholarships in the Teaching of English were established by sisters Samuella Wynne Palmer and Ruth Wynne Hollinshead of Huntsville, Texas in memory of their grandmother Ruthannah Brown. Ms. Hollinshead received her Bachelor of Arts degree at Sam Houston State University in 1941.

Texas Review Journal Editorial Fellow
Award $1,000
The Texas Review Journal Editorial Fellow was established by Texas Review Press for a graduate student intern at Texas Review Press who serves as the assistant editor for the Texas Review literary journal. This scholarship is for a graduate student in the Department of English and will be fully funded for 20 hour per week interns and half-funded for 10 hour per week interns.

Scholarships

The Scholarship Team in the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office coordinates and administers Sam Houston State University scholarship programs for all student classification levels. SHSU utilizes a streamlined application, Scholarships4Kats. This application dramatically simplifies the process for students by importing key information from their student data record and allowing them to be automatically considered for all relevant scholarships. A student has to be accepted to Sam Houston State University to apply for scholarships.

View breakdown of cost on the Cashier's website.