This fund was established in 2001 by department faculty and subsequently renamed to honor Rebecca Verser, PhD ’07. In 2010, while an assistant professor at New Mexico State University, Verser died from an autoimmune disorder at the age of 35.
Verser embodied many of the very best qualities of a graduate student. While at Mizzou, she assumed a leadership role in the graduate student association, and she was passionate about helping raise funds to assist her fellow graduate students with their travel to present papers or to help them defray research costs associated with their dissertation projects.
Each year, a number of grants from the Verser Graduate Student Support Fund provide financial assistance to graduate students for dissertation research support, travel expenses, or research fellowship stipends. Requests for this support always far exceed the available funds. Your gift will support the research and career development of our many graduate students.