After Miriam Bailey Gardner was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, her husband Bill assembled a scrapbook of her life, so that their children would more fully understand Miriam’s personal and professional accomplishments. Bill learned much more about his wife’s early life, including the fact that her lifelong love of music was ignited while a student at NC State. While exploring the history of the NC State Department of Music, Bill and Miriam learned about the challenges for current and prospective NC State students who have talents and interests in the performing arts.

As a result of discussions with Dan Monek, head of the Department of Music, Bill and Miriam chose to establish the Miriam Bailey Gardner Music Scholarship Endowment. This endowment will both honor Miriam and provide merit-based scholarships to music students in perpetuity.

Miriam Bailey Gardner passed away on March 6, 2020.

Why Give

Many musically talented and academically deserving prospective students and their families struggle to afford the cost of attending NC State. The Miriam Bailey Gardner Scholarship Endowment will both honor Miriam and support student-musicians by:

1.  Recruiting exceptional students who want to pursue music while majoring in any department

2.  Mitigating financial concerns that may prevent students from continuing to participate in music throughout college

3.  Developing student leaders in the ensembles

Other Ways to Give

All gifts made to the Miriam Bailey Gardner Scholarship Endowment are counted toward NC State University’s $1.6 billion Think and Do the Extraordinary campaign. Click here to learn more.