Chancellor Kristin Sobolik (at left) presents Barbara Kohm with the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Medal for Philanthropy during the 34th annual Founders Celebration on Thursday evening at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

Barbara Kohm has been a champion of education throughout her life, serving as a teacher and principal, co-founding the Clayton Family Center, mentoring other administrators and authoring multiple books filled with wisdom for educational leaders. She has made an impact on the lives of thousands of K-12 students through her work.

Kohm and her late husband, Bernard, have also left an indelible mark on students at the University of Missouri–St. Louis through their philanthropic support, which endowed the Barbara and Bernard Kohm Promise and Opportunity Scholarship in Education and the Barbara and Bernard Kohm Scholarship in Business. More than 75 students have already benefitted from those awards.

Barbara Kohm was joined by her family, including her son Jim, daughters Amy and Kathy, and her sister and former UMSL faculty member Mary Beth Mohrman, at Thursday’s Founders Celebration.

In her latest act of generosity, Kohm, along with her family, has established the Kohm Scholars Program, which is designed to support more than 40 high-achieving, low-income students each year, providing them opportunities to earn their degrees with little or no debt as they develop into future leaders. The university welcomed the first cohort of Kohm Scholars onto campus this fall.

The 34th annual Founders Celebration provided an opportunity for the UMSL community to express its gratitude for Kohm’s beneficence. Before an audience of more than 200 alumni, faculty and staff members, and supporters – including Chancellor Emerita Blanche Touhill, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, St. Louis County Council Chair Rita Heard Days and University of Missouri Curator Lyda Krewson – Chancellor Kristin Sobolik presented Kohm with the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Medal for Philanthropy on Thursday night in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

“As our friends, we are so honored to recognize you tonight with the university’s highest honor,” Sobolik said as she opened the box and showed Kohm the medal. “Thank you for believing in the University of Missouri–St. Louis and investing in our work.”

Moments earlier, attendees had an opportunity to hear from some of the graduates who have already had their lives touched by the Kohm’s support in a video showcasing her impact.

“I’m the first student of my family to go to college and finish after four years and have a bachelor’s degree,” said Faith Carter, who earned her BSED in 2023 and now works as an interventionist at Parkwood Elementary School. “It has been a huge inspiration to my younger siblings that are looking up to me, and to my family as a whole, but also for my students.”

Among the other graduates spotlighted was Meredith Alton, who earned her BSED from UMSL in 2021 and is an English Language Arts teacher at Ritenour High School.

Supply chain student Eric Zhang wraps up his performance on piano during Thursday’s Founders Celebration.

“My degree in education has also really made an impact in the students that I work with,” Alton said. “I found my niche serving high need communities that are underserved. The return on the investment, giving these scholarships to people who really want to make a difference does impact not only the lives of kids, but of communities, and then they can lift everyone up.”

Kohm – who was joined by son Jim, daughters Kathy and Amy, and her sister Mary Beth Mohrman, a former associate professor in the Ed G. Smith College of Business at UMSL – appeared moved to hear stories from the students about the difference the scholarships have made in their lives.

Kohm was not the only one in attendance Thursday evening who has helped UMSL graduates reach their goals and dreams. As Sobolik noted, the university received a record $46.7 million in gifts and pledges during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, and $22 million of that money was directed toward scholarships and other student success initiatives.

Perry Drake, an associate teaching professor and chair of the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, served as the master of ceremonies during the Founders Celebration.

UMSL recognized other benefactors for their generous support of the university and its students over the past year. Attendees had ribbons on their name tags to show their membership in both The Goode Society and The 1963 Society. The former is named in honor of UMSL founder Wayne Goode and is made up of donors who commit $1,000 or more annually to the university. The latter commemorates the year of the university’s founding and is comprised of donors who are making provisions to support the future of the university through a variety of estate planning options.

Sobolik also welcomed new members to the Chancellor’s Circle, a giving society made up of supporters who have contributed at least $100,000 to the university in their lifetimes. She walked down the aisle through the audience to offer her personal thanks to the new members in attendance. That group included:

• 

  Chancellor Kristin Sobolik offers thanks to Associate Professor Pamela Stuerke during the Founders Celebration. Stuerke was one of several new members of the Chancellor’s Circle recognized for their generosity.

  The James S. McDonnell Foundation, represented by President Jason Q. Purnell, which awarded the university an $8 million grant to support the launch of the new UMSL School of Engineering.

• Virginia Navarro, an associate professor emerita, who has contributed to endowed student scholarships and has expanded her giving to support the modernization and expansion of learning environments that will enhance student success.
• Pamela Stuerke, an associate professor of accounting as well as a member of the clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, who contributed to the renovation of UMSL’s Arts Administration Building. The building will officially open next month as the new home for UMSL’s music and arts programs with a state-of-the-art recital hall named in honor of the Arianna String Quartet.
• Eric’el Johnson, who was honored Thursday night as the 2025 Outstanding Young Alum and who made a legacy gift to support the Opportunity Scholars Program. It is the same scholarship that supported her as she pursued her degree in engineering, graduating in 2016.

Janet and Bob Blitz, Barbara and Steven Burrows, and Mark and Kathy Jansen were also recognized as new members of the Chancellor’s Circle but were unable to attend the Founders Celebration. There were others new members who wished to remain anonymous.

Guests were treated to a reception in the Terrance Lobby following the formal program at Thursday night’s Founders Celebration.