The Peay Endowment sponsors four major funds that support academic achievement as a tribute to General Peay’s lifetime of demonstrated service:
Peay Merit Scholars
This is a full scholarship program designed to attract the very best young men and women nationally who possess qualities of character associated with the Institute’s 14th superintendent and have demonstrated exceptional leadership, academic excellence, athletic commitment and interest in national service. Additionally, the Institute may also designate certain rising 2nd and 1st Class cadets as Peay Merit Scholars.
Peay Chairs
The Peay Endowment will recognize faculty for their transformational influence on VMI’s academic program and the lives of cadets. Over time, Peay Chairs will ensure VMI’s ability to attract, retain and reward a faculty renowned for its teaching excellence, intellectual rigor, mentorship and academic relevance.
Peay Chairs will recognize teaching and research faculty whose accomplishments in the domains of teaching, cadet development, scholarship and citizenship are of the highest order and whose influence on the lives of cadets is profound and lifelong. Peay Chairs will also recognize and reward academic department heads who have distinguished themselves by their wise stewardship and evolution of the academic program for which they are responsible.
Peay Fellows
This program promotes careers in academia for VMI graduates by providing a funding path for those who have demonstrated the ability, passion and potential for successful careers as faculty in higher education. The fellowship program seeks to encourage VMI graduates to return to the Institute and compete for positions on the faculty.
For each fellow, the endowment will fund two years of graduate-level education and two-year terms on VMI’s renowned faculty as “Instructors-in-Residence.” The program reinforces the foundational importance and influence of “professor-leaders” on the professional and personal lives of cadets and graduates.
Peay Academic Excellence Fund
Those who are interested in supporting the overall progress of the Institute’s academic enterprise want the Institute to have the ability to reinforce successes, take advantage of new opportunities and meet critical needs.
The Peay Academic Excellence Fund gives VMI this ability by acting much like any other unrestricted fund in that it can be used in a manner deemed necessary by the Institute’s leaders. The difference is that money generated by the fund will be used solely in support of the operational components of the Peay Endowment: The Peay Merit Scholarships, the Peay Chair Program, and the Peay Fellows Program.
The flexibility of the Peay Academic Excellence Fund means that donors to it will have an effect as profoundly transformative and enduring on VMI’s academic program as those who support other elements of the Peay Endowment.
