Scholarship Honors Late OBHR Professor

PROVO, Utah — Sep 20, 2007 — Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management is honoring the late Sheri Joy Bischoff, professor of organizational behavior, with a new scholarship to assist MBA candidates studying organizational behavior and human resources.

Bischoff’s family, friends, former students and colleagues made contributions totaling more than $40,000 to create an endowed scholarship in her name. Each academic year, a $2,000 Bischoff Scholarship will be awarded to an MBA student majoring in OBHR. Kristin Hawkes, a second-year MBA student from Salt Lake City, will receive the first Bischoff Scholarship in January 2008. The Scholarship committee chooses recipients according to financial need, academic achievement and a commitment to use their education to help others.

“Sheri Bischoff exemplified what BYU is all about — faith, respect, competence and love,” says Ned Hill, Marriott School dean. “I could not be more pleased to see that her family and colleagues have helped us create a lasting memory in the form of an endowed scholarship to honor a gifted and inspiring teacher and friend.”

From 1994 to 2003, Bischoff taught in the Department of Organizational Leadership and Strategy, developing a reputation for caring, a great sense of humor and dedication to her work and family. She died March 18, 2003, after battling cancer for six years.

“Sheri Bischoff contributed significantly to the spiritual and secular education of Marriott School students,” Hill says. “Her students were drawn to her calm and gentle way of teaching. Her colleagues adored her.”

In 1998, Bischoff was presented with the Outstanding Mentor Award by graduate students in organizational behavior. She was uniquely able to connect with her students by sustaining a warm learning environment in which students developed critical thinking skills and stronger testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She received the Marriott School Teaching Excellence Award in 2001.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.