UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

University Advancement

Dan and Marilyn Lightfoot

Retirees Dan and Marilyn Lightfoot of Hudson knew they wanted a portion their will to benefit higher education and research. Coming from modest backgrounds, neither had attended college. In spite of this, they were able to work hard and were rewarded with a certain level of  success. Dan's came in the printing industry and Marilyn's at Ecolab in St. Paul, Minn. With today’s fast paced and highly competitive job market, they knew that such career paths are now rare, if not impossible.

Because it was personal to both of them, the couple wanted the money to improve the field of eye health. They initially looked to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Eye Research Institute as a beneficiary. But ultimately concluded that while they would support research at some level, they wanted the majority of their estate gift to benefit hardworking, undergraduate students from humble beginnings at their local university: UW-River Falls. Their estate now contains a provision for a generous gift to the UWRF Foundation. One day it will endow a scholarship for a biology student in the biomedical track, with a preference for students pursuing a career in optometry.

“Things have changed so much that we just wanted to help kids get into this strange new world,” Dan said. “This is our way of giving back and it’s something that we enjoy doing.

A few months later, eager to see the result of their generosity, the Lightfoots also created an annual scholarship. Inspired by Dan’s career and passions, the Lightfoot Scholarship awards annually to an incoming freshman art major with an interest in printmaking or photography. 

"Young people are the ones who keep the world going so we want to make sure they are educated," Marilyn said.

Dan and Marilyn Lightfoot
Dan and Marilyn Lightfoot


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