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Coleman D. Ross

Nancy Ross, Betty Dickson, and Nancy Jo Smith Endowed Scholarship

The Nancy Coleman Ross and Betty Ross Dickson Endowed Scholarship was established in 2003 at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Coleman D. Ross to acknowledge the family support he received as he pursued his education and to memorialize the lives of two family members: his mother, Nancy Coleman Ross, and his sister, Betty Ross Dickson, a 1952 graduate of Woman's College. He amended the scholarship in 2016 to honor his sister, Nancy Jo Ross Smith, a 1963 graduate of Woman's College, on the occasion of her 75^th birthday. Two scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate students with preferences for students with financial need, students seeking degrees in the School of Health and Human Sciences and the Bryan School of Business and Economics, and students from Guilford County and Mecklenburg County. Coleman provided the following to UNC-G about the three honorees.

Nancy Coleman Ross was born in 1900 in Feasterville, a rural community in Fairfield County, South Carolina. She was the youngest of six children of Yongue and Lizzie Coleman. At a time when college education was rare, especially for females, Nancy and three older sisters all graduated from Winthrop College and all became school teachers. Following her graduation in 1921, Nancy taught in South Carolina for a year before coming to Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, to teach Domestic Science (now Human Environmental Sciences) at Pleasant Garden School. There she met Guy Ross whom she married in 1925. After the birth of her first child in 1930 she left teaching to become a full-time homemaker and mother to four children: Elizabeth 'Betty' (Dickson), Guy, Jr., Nancy Jo (Smith) (BS Home Economics '63), and Coleman. All four children were encouraged to pursue a college education and all did, with both daughters graduating from what is now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Nancy's husband, children and their spouses, twelve grandchildren, and extended family in North and South Carolina were recipients of her devotion. She was a catalyst for action in her community through Pleasant Garden United Methodist Church and Pleasant Garden Club. With her calm, gracious demeanor, Nancy charmed many and slyly won many hands of bridge. Nancy died in 1988 at age 87.

Elizabeth 'Betty' Ross was born in 1930 in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina. She graduated from Pleasant Garden High School in 1948 and enrolled at Woman’s College with a group of cousins and friends. Betty worked summers through college to help pay for her own education, as did her siblings who followed her. Armed with a BS in Secretarial Administration degree in 1952, she moved to Chapel Hill and went to work at the newly-opened North Carolina Memorial Hospital where she met Griggs Dickson, a UNC Medical School student. Betty and Griggs were married in 1953 while he was still a student. There she was awarded a light-hearted PhT degree for having worked to 'put him through' medical school. Following her husband’s graduation, internship, and residency in pediatrics, they moved to Hartsville, South Carolina. In 1963 they settled in Charlotte. Betty became mother of three children: a daughter, Mary Jane 'Polly,' and two sons, Ross (BS Business Administration '83) and Michael. All three of the children received a college education with Ross following his mother to UNCG. Ross and Diane Grady Dickson (BS Home Economics '86) have two daughters, Sarah and Margaret, who brought special joy to their grandmother. Betty was a member of Myers Park United Methodist Church and also gave of her time and business expertise to the Charlotte Nature Museum, where she served as president. An accomplished seamstress, family and friends received gifts of her needlework. She kept in touch with her family and friends from high school and college. She, like her mother, enjoyed respect as a bridge player, having won high score less than a week before she died in March 2003.

Nancy Josephine 'Nancy Jo' Ross Smith was born in 1941, the third of four children born to Nancy and Guy Ross. Upon Nancy Jo's graduation from Pleasant Garden High School in 1959 she, like her sister Betty, enrolled at Woman's College. Nancy Jo completed a B.S. degree in Home Economics, as her mother had done at Winthrop College, and was part of WC's last all-female graduating class of 1963. She then taught home economics for one and one-half year years at Alamance, Nathaniel Greene, and Pleasant Garden Schools in Guilford County. Nancy Jo married Joseph Ronald Smith in 1963. They made their home in Pleasant Garden and raised their four children there: Matthew, Elizabeth, Eric, and David. While raising her children, Nancy Jo was an active member of Pleasant Garden United Methodist Church and the local schools' Parent Teacher Associations. She continues to support her 13 grandchildren in their interest and endeavors whether it is cheering them on at a basketball game, beaming with pride at a dance recital or musical performance, or being available to pick them up from college for a holiday break. A strong advocate for education, Nancy Jo was elected to the Guilford County School Board for two consecutive four-year terms (1976-1984), including two years as the board's chairperson. More   recently,  she  was  elected   to   the   Pleasant

Nancy Ross, Betty Dickson, and Nancy Jo Smith Scholarship recipients by academic year –
2004-05: Hediyyih Narula
2005-06: Donnie Everett
2006-07: Iuliana Diaconescu
2007-08: Iuliana Diaconescu
2008-09: Iuliana Diaconescu
2009-10: Iuliana Diaconescu
2010-11: Breona Gonzalez
2011-12: Breona Gonzalez
2012-13: Breona Gonzalez
2013-14: Heather Rines
2014-15: Kaleia Martin
2015-16: Kaleia Martin
2016-17: Jenny Ka
2017-18: Jenny Ka and Hillary Birago
2018-19: Jenny Ka and Keia Harris
2019-20: Dejah Washington and Sarah White
2020-21: Tia Simone Brown and Ginger Cottrell
2021-22: Ginger Cockrell and Tala Khamis Saleh Najjar

The following appeared in UNCG’s June 2020 edition of University Advancement about one of the scholarship recipients, Sarah White.

When Sarah White arrived at UNC Greensboro to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition, she was prepared for the transformative education that will lead to a career as a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) – but she wasn’t prepared for support nearly 100 years in the making.

“Nutrition is a rigorous and demanding field – and rightfully so,” explains Sarah. “Receiving the Nancy Ross, Betty Dickson, and Nancy Jo Smith Scholarship was an unexpected surprise, more so because I’m from the same county as Mrs. Ross!”

After graduating with a degree in domestic science from South Carolina’s Winthrop College in 1921, Nancy Coleman Ross moved to Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, to teach and raise a family. Her enthusiasm for education led all four of her children to pursue college degrees, with her two daughters, Elizabeth “Betty” Dickson and Nancy Jo Smith, graduating from UNCG. In 2003, her son Coleman D. Ross established the scholarship to honor the lives and education of his mother and sisters. It supports students from Guilford and Mecklenburg Counties who are studying in the School of Health and Human Sciences or the Bryan School of Business.

Dedicated to a descendant discipline of Nancy Coleman Ross’s domestic science, Sarah is incredibly grateful for the support and the near-century connection between herself and Nancy Coleman Ross.

“I’m blessed to receive this scholarship, as it has relieved some of the financial strain I’m facing. It takes faith, compassion, and a generous heart to create and continue scholarships and awards, and I’m honored to have that trust from donors – and elated to have a personal connection to one of the people who inspired it.”

Sarah plans to open her own practice and provide community nutrition education to people in underserved groups. She also wants to train academic and public health professionals in implicit racial bias so they can be more culturally competent while working with the public. It is a dream made possible because of donor generosity.

“We are blessed to be a blessing,” Sarah says. “This scholarship enables me to fulfill my desire to help others tap into their own power to live healthier lives. I’m encouraged to persevere because people have helped and believed in me. Thank you.”

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