Development News

Tennessee Tech graduate’s love for history and music appreciation courses inspires gift 

Dr. Don Barry says his four years at Tennessee Tech were full of meaningful experiences, and some of the most beneficial and treasured of those experiences were his history courses. The knowledge he acquired from enthusiastic history professors prepared him to earn master’s and Ph.D. degrees and embark on a 44-year career teaching and writing about history.

A Tech basketball scholarship covered Barry’s undergraduate expenses, but he recognizes that not all students are as fortunate as he. That’s why he decided to establish the Don Barry History Scholarship Endowment for history majors with financial need.

“I came from a family that didn’t have a lot of money, and I needed financial assistance to go to college,” Barry explained. “The basketball scholarship at Tech served that purpose for me. That’s part of the inspiration for the scholarship, and it’s one of the reasons why I want to give back to Tech.”  

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Tech in 1967, Barry earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Florida State University. Barry taught history courses at Georgia Southern University and Florida State but spent the majority of his career at Tallahassee Community College.  

Barry has given to Tech for nearly 25 years, but his gift to establish a scholarship endowment is his largest to date. When Barry had the idea for a scholarship, he and Dr. Kent Dollar, chair of the history department, discussed what criteria would be most beneficial for students.

“The history department has several scholarships for history majors, but none of them are based solely on a student’s financial need,” Dollar said. “When we made this known to Dr. Barry, he immediately concluded that he would like his scholarship to help history students who are having difficulty paying for college. The Don Barry History Scholarship will assist innumerable students who may not otherwise be able to attend Tech and pursue their passion for history. It is very gratifying to see a history alumnus remember with great fondness the university, the history program and his former professors decades later. This speaks volumes about the success of Tennessee Tech and the history department.”

In addition to establishing a history scholarship, Barry also made a generous gift to the School of Music to support music appreciation. He says that throughout 10 years of undergraduate and graduate education, his music appreciation course – taken during his freshman year at Tech – was one of the most influential.

“My professor would describe a little of what we would be listening to and a little about the composers, and then he would play something,” Barry recalled. “I remember listening to works by Mozart and Beethoven and American composers like Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland and Samuel Barber, and it was just marvelous. Immediately, I started buying vinyl records. That course was a launching pad to branch out and enjoy opera music as well.”

Barry spent four months in Paris during graduate school, and he enjoyed attending operas there. Today, he flies to New York City to attend Metropolitan Opera performances.

“Music appreciation was one of the most important courses I’ve ever had in my entire academic career,” Barry said. “It introduced me to passions that have added thousands of exhilarating hours to my life.”  

Dr. Colin Hill, director of Tech’s School of Music, says the school is honored to receive such a generous gift, especially considering Barry was not a music major.

“To hear that our general education course music appreciation had such a positive influence on Dr. Barry further validates the importance of music education,” Hill said. “Music is for everyone. It is present in all cultures and is characterized by the history and environment of that region. While the School of Music’s primary goal is to train world-class performers and educators, we hope music appreciation continues to positively impact all students on our campus.”

Barry says he is happy to give back to two academic programs that had such a profound effect – both professionally and personally.  

“I very much appreciate what Tech did in providing a happy, successful and meaningful life,” he said. “I am pleased and honored to assist Tennessee Tech students and hope that my support contributes to personal enlightenment, wisdom and fulfillment.”