Scholarships are available to cadets majoring in economics and business after their rat year. Each is based primarily on academic excellence, although other factors such as need, character, extracurricular activities and leadership may be considered.

Merit Scholarships

Merit scholarships are available to cadets majoring in economics and business after their rat year and based primarily on academic excellence, although other factors such as need, character, extracurricular activities and leadership may be considered.

ECBU offers three Merit Scholarships:

McDowell Scholarship

Andrew L. McDowell was born in Surrey, England, on November 8, 1918, as his parents were emigrating from Ireland to Canada.  The family eventually came to the U.S., settling in Albany, N.Y.  Mr. McDowell served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and after the war married Dorothy L. Sheffield, raising a son and daughter together.  He retired from a career in the metals refining industry in 1966 and spent the last 21 years of his life in the travel industry.  He was extremely well-read, loved history and considered education a lifetime responsibility, graduating from college at the age of 74!  With his son’s entry into VMI as a member of the class of 1968, he became a strong supporter of the Institute.  The McDowell Scholarship is possible because of the generosity of Robert L. McDowell, VMI class of 1968 and former member of the VMI Board of Visitors, and his wife, Melissa S. McDowell.

Duncan Scholarship

The Colonel Floyd H. Duncan Class of 1964 Economics and Business Scholarship is made possible by the generosity of Floyd H. Duncan. Awards may be used to fund study during the regular academic year, summer school at the Institute as well as study abroad. Floyd H. Duncan'64 was a member of VMI's faculty for 35 years. After graduating from VMI in 1964, he served for three years on active duty with the U.S. Army. In the best VMI citizen-soldier tradition, he continued his service in the U.S. Army Reserve and retired in 1994 in the grade of colonel. Colonel Duncan received his MBA and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of South Carolina in 1968 and 1972, respectively. In 1978, he returned to VMI as an associate professor of Economics. As the head of the Department of Economics and Business from 2005 to his retirement in 2013, he led the effort that profoundly transformed the department's organization and curriculum, an effort that improved the education and preparation of cadets in the major and culminated in its accreditation in 2009 by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. He received the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1995 and held The John W. and Jane M. Roberts Institute Professorship in Free Enterprise Economics from 2003 to 2013.

Burton Scholarship

The Burton P.C. Bacheller, III 2011 Scholarship in Economics and Business is made possible by the generosity of Ramona Hazera and Burton P. C. Bacheller, II. Its purpose is to provide financial assistance to cadets who are pursuing a degree in Economics and Business at VMI, with a preference for cadets from Virginia.  Awards may be used for funding study during the regular academic year, for summer school at the Institute, as well as study abroad. The scholarship honors the donors’ son, Burton P.C. Bacheller, III, class of 2011, who graduated with a degree in Economics and Business.

All questions about ECBU Scholarships should be directed to COL Tinni Sen, Chair of the ECBU Scholarship Committee.