The application window is now open for a new scholarship program honoring the legacy of Michael E. McGoldrick. Three students from Colorado and Washington states will be chosen to receive $100,000 toward their four-year, undergraduate college career, plus a new computer and academic support. These states were chosen based on the places McGoldrick most considered home.
Born in Seattle, McGoldrick lived in Colorado for 35 years. He was an economics professor and personal investor keenly attuned to the stock market. He was also an avid fisherman and traveler who followed his passions to over 60 countries. According to the The MEM Scholarship website, “this shaped a compassionate world view to the challenges that our fellow global citizens face and helped him look at the world through the lens of comparative economics, human rights and history.”
The MEM Scholarship program, named for his initials, will award students who exemplify traits aligned with the donor’s legacy: strong character and high ethics, demonstrable concern for the environment and community, intellectual curiosity of the world.
The scholarship is open to 2025 graduating seniors with a grade point average above 3.5, including immigrants who have begun the process for citizenship, legal status or lawful presence. Applicants must prove financial need with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $150,000 or less on the 2023 federal tax return on which they were claimed as a dependent, plus a review of other assets. The scholarship may be applied toward any accredited institution in the U.S. or abroad.
Ron Speaker, founder and CEO of the Michael E. McGoldrick Foundation, designed the MEM Scholarship to address gaps left by other major scholarships like the Boettcher and Daniels, raising the AGI limit and not requiring citizenship status. Through his Finance Camp, a summer program teaching investment skills to local teens, Speaker was introduced to a bright young woman who inspired him to make this opportunity available to youth without citizenship.
“We take it very seriously, how we evaluate fairness to everyone,” Speaker told The Sopris Sun. Multiple phases over seven months, concluding with interviews for finalists, will determine the three scholars most deserving of this award, and not solely based on academic merit. “If a student who is applying had a big dream where they could go anywhere in the world to study and have a good reason for doing it,” Speaker thinks they have a great shot.
He first met McGoldrick, a friend and contemporary of Tom Bailey, at Janus Capital Group as a summer intern in 1986. The two grew close and McGoldrick became his lifelong mentor. When he passed away in 2021, Speaker was bestowed the honor of creating a foundation in accordance with McGoldrick’s last wishes. The private family foundation is intended to last a decade, with all assets distributed by then through scholarships and donations to organizations and individuals making a meaningful impact through arts and culture, education, environmental conservation, human rights and rule of law.
Speaker’s summer Finance Camp, now in its second year, is an ode to McGoldrick. He does the service as a charity, because the lasting gifts of financial education he received from McGoldrick and Bailey changed his life forever. “It’s an absolute joy to give back,” he noted.
The MEM Scholarship aims to help launch youth with a desire to use their gifts to better the world. “It’s too bad Michael is not here to meet these kids in person,” Speaker concluded. “He never thought he was going to have as much money as he did. Now it’s time to do something good with it.”
Act fast, the window to apply closes Oct. 15. Find the application and more information at www.memscholars.org