Trish Ring recently donated $1 million to the UF Department of Psychology as a dissertation fellowship for students wanting to pursue their doctorate.
The Trish Calvert Ring Dissertation Fellowship was created to allow top students to finish their research and write up a dissertation in a timely manner.
Interim chair and professor at the UF Department of Psychology, Julia Graber, says the fellowship will be awarded yearly and will help students free up their time in order to be dedicated and focused to their research. Graber also sees the fellowship as a goal future students can apply to and aim for during their education.
“We’re really grateful that Dr. Ring has been so generous,” Graber said. “It’s terrific for the students who receive it, but also for the department, it’s a great thing we have to offer students.”
Ring said she was inspired to create the fellowship as a means to support students in the psychology department. Ring said she was a 31-year-old divorcee and single mom when she applied to graduate school. She said she wouldn’t have been able to finish her education without financial aid.
“I was juggling a great deal,” Ring said. “It made my life much better to finish my degree.”
Ring, who received her doctorate in counseling psychology from UF, gave the endowment as a personal gift to the department.
Ring and her husband, Carl Ring, currently run the Blue Star Ranch in Cashiers, North Carolina, as well as reside there and in Memphis, Tennessee. Ring says she works as an equine coach and uses her psychology training for personal coaching, leadership training, team building, working with horses and more.
Ring says she and her husband are committed to philanthropy now and in the future.
“We are motivated to support education in a variety of different ways.” Ring said.
Follow Dana Cassidy on Twitter @danacassidy_ and contact her at dcassidy@alligator.org.
