Bergfield Science Scholarship

Literally out of the blue on the morning in January 2005, Eddie Bergfield made a phone call to CLU’s advancement office. Eddie lived about two miles from campus but had never visited. Now he wanted to establish a scholarship for science majors, and he wanted to do it yesterday.

As it turned out, there was good reason for Eddie’s sense of urgency. He was suffering from interstitial lung disease and knew he would need to move quickly to get his estate in order. In college he had majored in mathematics and had spent his professional life as a contract electronics engineer traveling widely. This background influenced the direction of the scholarship he established.

Eddie had a perpetually active mind, and he had developed a keen interest in the natural sciences. It was his desire to create a scholarship that would help future scientists discover their strengths and chart their vocations as undergraduate science majors, thus helping to prepare them for graduate school. As he talked with CLU’s science professors, Eddie became convinced that undergraduate research was as vital to an academic education as time in the lecture hall. As a result, a unique scholarship/ internship plan was developed for Eddie’s future endowed gift.

Eddie was wise to move quickly with his plan. He passed away in October 2005, just 10 months after that first phone call. In that short time, CLU had the opportunity to build a friendship with a generous and good-hearted man. The Bergfield Science Scholarship is awarded over a two-year period of time to a sophomore or junior science major who also plans to work on a research project over the summer. Eddie passed away knowing that he had taken a bold step to prepare promising scientists for the future. CLU is extremely grateful for his generosity and forward thinking.