Tim and Gail Coutcher Hughes were both the first in their
immediate families to graduate from college, and they are big
believers in the power of education to transform lives.
That’s why they established an endowed scholarship fund in
August 2012 that gives preference to a first-generation student
who demonstrates financial need. The scholarship will go to a
full-time student in his or her freshman year and may be renewed
for eight semesters.
“My wife and I luckily are from working-class families with
wonderful parents who put tremendous emphasis on the importance
of education,” said Tim Hughes, who earned his bachelor’s degree at
Bellarmine in 1965 and went on to receive a cum laude degree from Cleveland State University’s
John Marshall Law School and to complete the Advanced Management Program at Emory
University in Atlanta. He is a member of Bellarmine’s Gallery of Distinguished Graduates.
“We’ve been extraordinarily blessed in our careers and now have the opportunity to do
something in the way of passing on that legacy via encouragement and financial support, first
at my wife’s alma mater (the University of Georgia) and, now, at BU,” said Tim Hughes, who
is retired as executive vice president, administration, from Cox Enterprises Inc., one of the
nation’s leading media companies and providers of automotive services.
In order to renew the scholarship, the recipient must maintain a grade-point average
of at least 3.0 and must also provide volunteer service for a human-service organization in
Louisville, in his or her home community, or abroad.
Community service is important to Tim and Gail, who are avid volunteer leaders with and
fundraisers for the American Red Cross, as well as a number of other arts, civic, environmental/
conservation, health and human services and faith-based organizations in Charleston, S.C.,
Highlands, N.C., and Atlanta.
It is their hope that the Tim Hughes ’65 and Gail Coutcher Hughes Endowed Scholarship
will enable recipients to attain an education that will transform their lives and to discover a
commitment to community service that will enrich the lives of others well into the future.