Won O. Song, Ph.D., MPH, RDN, a recently retired faculty member from the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), has established a new endowed fund to provide scholarships for FSHN undergraduate students to study abroad.
CANR offers Education Abroad destinations that span the globe, with opportunities to live, learn, experience different cultures and conduct research in more than 25 countries.
Born and raised in South Korea right after the Korean War, Song developed a passion for other cultures early on.
She came to MSU as an assistant professor teaching the general nutrition undergraduate course to over 1,000 students each quarter.
“Many freshmen in the class had never had this size of class, nor an international professor. It was challenging, but I appreciate challenges. I learned I was more a performer at times, rather than an instructor,” Song recalls.
Throughout her 38-year-career at MSU, Song mentored, advised and taught students from diverse families, cultural and economic backgrounds. She also encountered many undergraduate students who could not afford to participate in education abroad programs.
To make it possible for more students to benefit from these experiences, Song created the Dr. Won Song Study Abroad Scholarship for Food Science and Human Nutrition, an endowment fund to provide perpetual support for students with limited financial means or limited family support who might not otherwise have this opportunity.
“Education is important, but one cannot get an education without money,” Song says. “Educational experiences to other cultures and ways of living are ever-important for our students.”
Read more about Dr. Song’s career, and her gift to support education abroad.