Diane Taylor McGeehan
Diane Taylor McGeehan, a 1972 English education graduate of Â鶹ÊÓƵ, has made a gift to create the Diane Taylor McGeehan Scholarship to provide financial support for Â鶹ÊÓƵ students planning to become teachers.
The donation from McGeehan, originally of Tokyo, Japan, and now living in Round Rock, Texas, is part of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, Impact 150. The Impact 150 campaign has a goal of $150 million; it is the largest campaign in the history of the university. The campaign is named in honor of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration, celebrated during the 2025–26 academic year.
Impact 150 centers around raising funds for healthy students, including supporting students academically and personally; a healthy university, including maintaining Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s commitment to excellence and innovation; and healthy communities, including Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s work to establish a college of osteopathic medicine.
As of March 31, Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Impact 150 comprehensive fundraising campaign stands at more than $114.5 million, or 76.34 percent of the goal, with 50,150 gifts from 13,138 donors.
This total includes more than $54 million for Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (Â鶹ÊÓƵ COM), part of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s commitment to address the rural healthcare crisis. Recent gifts to Â鶹ÊÓƵ COM include $4 million from a Pittsburgh foundation.
At the time of the public campaign launch of Â鶹ÊÓƵ 150 in August 2025, a total of $81,236,852—54 percent of the campaign goal—had been gifted to Â鶹ÊÓƵ from 11,673 donors.
“I created this scholarship to help future educators achieve their teaching goals,” McGeehan said. “To me, the most important careers are in education, especially teachers who major in English and the humanities. Those majors support a wide range of industries and careers,” she said.
Preference for the Diane Taylor McGeehan Scholarship will be for students majoring in English or education.
“Alumna like Dr. McGeehan, who are committed to creating opportunities for current and future students at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, are truly heroes,” Â鶹ÊÓƵ Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer DeAngelo said. “The selfless generosity of so many members of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ community, who are driven to ‘give back’ to their alma mater in the form of scholarships and unique opportunities for our students, continues to impress and to inspire me,” she said.
“I chose to attend Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 1968 as a German major, planning on becoming a high school language teacher,” McGeehan said.
“After two years of coursework, I switched my concentration to English, completing my student teaching in my final semester and graduating in May 1972. I had excellent professors for my coursework in German and English, as well as an inspiring student teaching supervisor,” she said.
“After I graduated from Â鶹ÊÓƵ, I continued my educational journey, earning a master’s degree in English, an MBA in business management, and an EdD in educational leadership. These degrees enabled me to teach grade school, high school, and college-level courses in different disciplines in different states for more than 30 years. I have established this Â鶹ÊÓƵ scholarship to encourage and support others as they begin their own teaching journeys. I hope they find as much enjoyment in their teaching careers as I have found in mine,” she said.
Since its founding in 1875, Â鶹ÊÓƵ has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As Â鶹ÊÓƵ celebrates its 150th anniversary during the 2025–26 academic year, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.