Shirley Buzzard Supports Future Students from Her Hometown with Gifts from Her Estate

Dr. Shirley Buzzard ’65 grew up in Neosho, Missouri, and chose the University of Missouri because her older sister went there, “and I did what she did,” she says. “Mizzou introduced me to the larger world. I grew up on a farm, and all we had was a radio. We didn’t even have a television. Going to campus, I met people from all over the world. Mizzou truly opened the world to me.”

To ensure that others have the same opportunities that she had as a student, Shirley has made a bequest in her will to the university and has named MU the beneficiary of one of her investment accounts. “These gifts will endow the Shirley Anne Buzzard Scholarship for students coming from Neosho,” she says. “It was easy, and it accomplished my philanthropic objective of wanting to help a struggling, low-income family—just as I was helped as a student at Mizzou.”

Now retired and living in Washington, D.C., Shirley received her first three degrees from Mizzou and her PhD from American University in D.C. and spent 20 years working as a medical anthropologist. She started and managed a small business that provided technical assistance to international health programs, and she has worked in over 70 countries worldwide. Shirley gets back to campus annually while visiting her sister in Columbia. “Going to Mizzou was life-changing,” she says. “The thing that saved me was education. The greatest impact I can have on the world is to educate another family. First-generation college goers change everything for a family.”

Shirley hopes others will be inspired to join her in making a legacy gift to support MU’s future. “It’s easy and it’s important,” she concludes. “I can’t save the world, but I might be able to help a family and the next generation. Hopefully, it’s a logarithmic change for a family.”