Tom Hood 鈥�78, a former member of the Oglethorpe President鈥檚 Advisory Council, and his wife, Sheila, have donated $1 million estate gift to Oglethorpe鈥檚 Global Education聽program to support future students who want to study abroad. This generous gift is the largest individual gift to this program every received by Oglethorpe.
Tom and Sheila share a rich history in education, travel, and adventure. Tom was working as a corporate pilot, flying out of Peachtree DeKalb Airport, when he enrolled at Oglethorpe and earned his bachelor鈥檚 in business administration. He received a master鈥檚 in public administration from the .
Aviation runs deeply in Tom鈥檚 family. His father, an aeronautical engineer for Bell Aircraft, was assigned to the team tasked with designing the first U.S. fighter jet, the XP-59A. Tom鈥檚 grandfather was an aviation pioneer, who engineered and piloted his own aircraft just 10 years after the Wright Brothers took off from Kitty Hawk. When the U. S. Department of Commerce Aeronautics Branch began to license pilots in 1926, Tom鈥檚 grandfather was one of the first 1,000 pilots licensed.
While Tom鈥檚 interests were focused in flight, Sheila鈥檚 remained more grounded, you might say. She studied as an undergraduate at Mercer University and received a master鈥檚 in Classics from . She has studied ancient civilizations, Greek and Roman history, and taught high school Latin and French for 11 years. It was at Ohio State that Sheila received a scholarship to study abroad. She spent two weeks at an archaeological dig in Yorkshire, and the experience left its mark.
Together, the two have traveled to England, Scotland, France, and Italy (to name but a few). Each trip seems to hold something for each of their interests鈥擲heila鈥檚 archaeology and Tom鈥檚 aviation. They鈥檝e explored the World War II aviation museum in Cambridge, the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, castles in Spain, and the Ferrari museum in Italy.
It seems only fitting that Tom, a third-generation lover of flight, and Sheila, a longtime student and educator, have chosen to share their gifts through study abroad scholarships.
鈥淲e hope this will benefit students for many years to come,鈥� said Tom. 鈥淪tudents should be able to broaden their horizons, step out of their comfort zones and see the world. To immerse yourself in ancient culture gives you pause to think about where you are compared to where your ancestors were.鈥�
鈥淭ake nothing for granted,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚 challenge all of us to honor those who brought us to where we are now, and to reach beyond our grasp to the next big thing.鈥�
