Power of giving: Three distinguished BGSU alumni join in supporting student success through Thompson Working Families Scholarship

Brothers Brad ‘82 and Spence Seaman ‘79, their mutual friend Eric Nowlin ‘82 and their spouses established the Pathway to Excellence Scholarship

Three distinguished Bowling Green State University alumni inspired by the remarkable stories of students in the Thompson Working Families Scholarship Program collaborated to establish a scholarship to support the educational journeys of 20 students over the next three years.

Brad Seaman ‘82, his brother, Spence Seaman ‘79, and Eric Nowlin ‘82, together with their wives, Lindsay Waite, Sue Seaman ‘76 and Jackie Nowlin, established the Pathway to Excellence Scholarship to support Thompson Achiever Scholars.

Thompson Achievers have demonstrated academic success and financial need during their first year at BGSU and are awarded a scholarship in their second year. The scholarship is renewable for up to four additional semesters based on continued academic success.

The Thompson Working Families Scholarship expands access to higher education by removing obstacles that could inhibit success while empowering students to focus on academic excellence, leadership development and public service.

The four-year graduation rate among Thompson Scholars has averaged 89% during the past decade, demonstrating the program’s effectiveness in helping students reach their educational goals.

Immediate impact

Crediting BGSU with providing the foundation for their professional success, the alumni — who live in Ohio, Florida and California — called their investment in the Thompson Achiever Scholars one of the easiest decisions they’ve ever made.

“Within minutes, Sue and I knew we wanted to fully support this initiative,” said Spence Seaman, a BGSU Foundation Board member and senior vice president — wealth management at UBS Financial Services, Inc., near Cleveland, Ohio. “Our support immediately impacts students, which is so important. We’re directly helping these young students get off to a good start.”

Brad Seaman, managing partner at Parallel49 Equity in Naples, Florida, and Eric Nowlin, president and principal founder of Private Equity Advisors in Corona Del Mar, California, shared similar sentiments, recalling a profound visit to BGSU last year during which they met with several current Thompson Scholars.

“I was particularly moved by one student’s story about the Thompson Scholarship Program changing his life,” Brad Seaman said. “He said if it weren’t for the Thompson Scholarship, he wouldn’t be at BGSU. It was such a powerful example of how this scholarship directly benefits students and their families.”

Eric Nowlin added, “It was inspiring listening to these students and hearing their stories of being able to pursue their dreams because of the Thompson Scholarship Program. Our three families like the framework of the scholarship program as a partnership between the financial contributors and the students, with accountability to support the scholarship recipients to their graduation from BGSU.”

Thompson Scholarship success

The Thompson Working Families Scholarship program, launched in 2014 by alumni Robert ’55, ’06 (Hon.) and Ellen ’54, ’06 (Hon.) Thompson, is an innovative public-private partnership that helps students from working families overcome financial barriers to higher education.

In May 2024, BGSU announced that the Thompsons, through their foundation, are expanding their contributions to the non-endowed scholarship program to total $121 million. Combined with the required dollar-for-dollar match from the University and other donor contributions, the philanthropic impact will amount to nearly $250 million, supporting more than 6,200 BGSU students through 2035.

Their recent contribution is the largest in the University’s history, the largest single gift designated to student scholarships in the state of Ohio’s history, and their contribution total has established one of the largest non-endowed scholarship programs of its kind in the nation.

The BGSU connection

Despite their geographic distance, the Seamans and Nowlins have remained close since graduating from BGSU more than four decades ago.

As they embark on this new philanthropic effort together, the trio and their wives said they are eager to follow the journeys of the students they are supporting through what has been established as the Pathway to Excellence Scholarship. They plan to meet with the students during BGSU Homecoming to learn more about their stories and aspirations.

“What’s so inspiring is that these students have already bet on themselves,” Spence Seaman said. “They got through their first year at BGSU, and this scholarship can relieve some financial stress as they continue their education at BGSU.”

Create good with us

In collaboration with the Thompson Foundation, BGSU has launched a significant fundraising initiative to secure $3.3 million in matching contributions annually through fall 2031, specifically for Thompson Achiever Scholars.

This effort will ensure that each year, a new cohort of 200 Thompson Achiever Scholars will receive $5,500 for three years from private donations, matching the same amount from the Thompson contribution. Every gift will assist these high-achieving BGSU students overcome financial barriers and earn college degrees.

To learn more about how to support the Thompson Working Families Scholarship program, visit BGSU.edu/thompson-family-scholars/impact.html