The LaNelle & Dennis Ford Scholarship Giving Back to Fielding

SANTA BARBARA, California -- For LaNelle Ford, Psy.D. (PSY 78), Fielding has truly been a family affair. She enrolled in Fielding with the encouragement of her husband, Dennis, and the tradition continued when her daughter Linda graduated from the School of HOD in 1992.

When Dennis died in 2001, LaNelle and daughters Linda and Kathryn wanted to do something lasting in his memory. “The girls and I talked,” she said, “and when I suggested Fielding as a recipient of memorial gifts, they agreed.”

As a leading academic administrator and adult educator in Texas, Dennis saw the value and potential of Fielding early on. In 1975—the year after Fielding was founded—he encouraged LaNelle to apply. “This looks like a good program,” he told her. “To remain relevant, this is the direction education must go.”

Dennis joined LaNelle on her Fielding journey, using faculty member John Gladfelter to train his own business school faculty in Transactional Analysis (TA), and attending other workshops given by Fielding faculty. He and LaNelle worked together, presenting seminars on communication, TA, and the psychology of business for major trade associations nationwide.

LaNelle recalls, “Dennis always said how much he had enjoyed watching Linda and me grow, and how much he had grown through his exposure to Fielding programs and faculty. That’s why I knew the memorial that would mean the most to him would be a scholarship fund at Fielding.”

She adds, “I would like to encourage other alumni to make gifts to Fielding in memory of significant people in their lives, including members of the Fielding family.”

 

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