$1 million tribute to grandma

Buy a bigger boat or fund college education? That was one of the easiest decisions this California couple made.

Pamela Samuelson, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and her husband, Internet entrepreneur Robert Glushko, established a full four-year scholarship for women pursuing science or technology degrees at the University of Washington.

They gave $1 million to the UW to create the Dovie Samuelson Endowed Scholarship in honor of Samuelson's late grandmother.

The scholarship, valued at $13,000 a year, is expected to pay all costs of attending the UW: tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, personal expenses and transportation.

Dovie Samuelson raised two sons as a single parent in Burlington, Skagit County, during the Depression and taught piano to finance their education at the UW.

"When she was growing up, it was hard for women to get any education. She regarded education as important, not just in her own life but in that of her children and grandchildren," Pamela Samuelson said. "This is an appropriate way to honor her."

Samuelson hopes other potential donors follow suit.

"For each student our scholarship supports, there could be 50 other worthy recipients," she said.

Tonya Sims, assistant director at the UW's Center for Women in Science and Engineering, said many of the center's 373 undergraduate students cite money as a barrier to getting a degree.

"If students can't get funding, they may have to work, and their grades can suffer," Sims said.

Glushko said the idea for the scholarship came after talking to Samuelson's sister-in-law's niece, Ariel Altaras. On Thanksgiving, the high-school senior left the family gathering to go to work.

"We met her by chance," Glushko said. "We saw how passionately she felt about her education as she worked part time and attended community college while finishing her senior year.

"We wanted to help her and similarly motivated students to afford the high cost of attending college."

Altaras is one of the three scholarship recipients announced this year. The UW's Office of Student Financial Aid selected the other two inaugural scholarship recipients.

Crystal Pham, a Mountlake Terrace High School graduate, plans to study microbiology and work toward medical school. Shannon Bemis of Spokane will study chemical engineering.

Glushko and Samuelson also have given money to the University of Hawaii, Samuelson's alma mater, for research on the effects of technology. They also donated money for a new law clinic at the Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley, where Samuelson has taught since 1996.

"How much money do you need?" Glushko asked. "It's a relatively recent thing that women are in these fields. The caliber of the women we're trying to give scholarships to . . . in 10 years we'll have Nobel Prize winners. Do you buy a bigger boat or try to help people? How can there be a choice?"