Within minutes of meeting Roger Bumgardner, his love of teaching becomes evident. That passion was planted within him from an early age. His small Louisiana community of 300 knew the Bumgardner family primarily because of his father’s many years as a school bus driver. Roger took pride in the fact that within that community, his parents, Irman and Estelle Bumgardner, were among the few who had completed high school. Public education became Roger’s means of building on that foundation. This scholarship, established in his parents’ honor, continues the Bumgardner legacy of investing in learning that changes lives.

“Educators from elementary school through university have been instrumental in directing my path,” the HCC instructor of nearly 30 years explains. “My desire is that through my teaching and now thru this scholarship lives will continue to be changed.”

Roger completed his bachelor’s degree in his native Louisiana and relocated to Houston to complete his master’s in public health. Having spent the majority of his teaching career in an HCC classroom, he has set a goal for this fund to provide at least two scholarships per year.