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Nebraska Business Scholarship Forever Honors Alumnus Ron Rotherham

Nebraska Business Scholarship Forever Honors Alumnus Ron Rotherham
Ron and Dodie Rotherham
The family of University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus Ronald “Ron” J. Rotherham has honored the Ewing native as a loving husband, father and grandfather by establishing a scholarship in his memory. Their gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation creates a permanent endowment to forever support the education of business students.

The scholarship is designated to annually help students with financial need who are enrolled at the Nebraska College of Business and study in the School of Accountancy, Department of Economics or Department of Finance. Students from Nebraska counties where the Rotherham family has history and roots, including Holt, Antelope, Madison and Lancaster, receive first award preference.

“This generous gift by the Rotherham family will provide a world-class, Big Ten business education for students in accounting, economics or finance for years to come,” said Donde Plowman, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer, who is former dean of the College of Business. “What a fitting tribute to the legacy of Ron Rotherham and his commitment to higher education and the Nebraska College of Business.”

Tyler Butterfield, a sophomore accounting major from Madison County, was selected by the college as the 2017-2018 recipient of the Ronald James Rotherham Scholarship and received a $4,100 award for tuition assistance.

Raised in Ewing, Nebraska, Rotherham attended public schools there and graduated in 1956. He then attended Nebraska where he studied business, accounting, and literature, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1960.

He and his wife of 46 years, Dodie Rotherham, met in 1959 in Lincoln while he was studying at Nebraska, and she was studying at the St. Elizabeth School of Nursing. They married in Lincoln on Aug. 26, 1961. Their son and daughter-in-law, James and Christine Rotherham, are the parents of two daughters, Brianna and Natalie.
 
Rotherham joined the U.S. Marine Corp in 1961, attended Officers Training School at Quantico, Virginia, and completed his active and reserve duties at Camp Pendleton, California. After his service with the Corps, he entered the master’s degree program at San Diego State University and became a Certified Public Accountant. He opened a CPA firm in 1968 in Oceanside, California, and owned numerous other business throughout the United States. He died in 2007.

Rotherham was a man of strong faith, says his family. His wit, humor and artistic talents were his trademark. His love of family, art, music, literature, language and travel were his passions.
Published: November 14, 2017