[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 152 (Friday, November 19, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S8122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        REMEMBERING ALLAN PURDY

 Mr. BOND. Mr. President, on behalf of my fellow Missourians, I 
wish to remember the life and achievements of Mr. Allan Purdy, a native 
of Missouri and the founding president of the National Association of 
Student Financial Aid Administrators, NASFAA, who died at age 96 this 
past October. Mr. Purdy dedicated his life to removing financial 
barriers to higher education and the awards and scholarships that are 
named after him are a testament to his hard work and dedication to this 
purpose.
  Mr. Purdy's passion for financial aid and serving students was 
sparked by his extraordinary life experiences. He graduated from high 
school without a nickel in 1932--the middle of the Great Depression. He 
managed to attend college through the National Youth Administration, a 
newly created national work program for students. Although he only 
earned $15 a month at 25 cents an hour through the program, it was 
enough to attend the College of Agriculture at the University of 
Missouri, where he ultimately earned a graduate degree.
  After graduating, Allan taught at Rutgers University and then joined 
the U.S. Navy where he served as a PT boat captain during World War II. 
After the war, he returned to the University of Missouri, MU, to work 
as an extension horticulturist--driving across the State to help 
farmers resolve problems with their fruit and vegetable crops. As he 
toured the State, he met many qualified students who lacked the 
financial resources to attend college. He advocated grant and work aid 
for these students to allow them to attend college. Allan was so 
diligent at recruiting these students that he was promoted to assistant 
to the dean of the College of Agriculture. In this position, he 
recruited students, arranged scholarships and part-time jobs for 
students, and helped graduates find jobs.
  At this time, catching the attention of the MU president, Allan was 
asked to start a department in the President's Office to coordinate all 
scholarships, jobs, and loans for all students on campus. Under the 
direction of the MU president, Allan began meeting with other aid 
administrators in the Midwest, which led to the formation of the 
Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in 1962. 
The group eventually grew to become NASFAA in 1969 and was incorporated 
in 1973 as a nonprofit corporation in the District of Columbia and 
emphasized, above all else, the needs of students.
  Shortly after Allan's retirement in 1979, as then-Governor of 
Missouri, it was my pleasure to appoint him to the Missouri Higher 
Education Loan Authority, MOHELA, in 1981 where he served more than 20 
years. During that time he worked to implement borrower benefit 
programs including loan forgiveness and low interest rates. The Purdy 
Scholarship Fund to benefit students demonstrating the greatest 
financial need was also established to honor his legacy.
  At the 2006 NASFAA National Conference in Seattle, Mr. Purdy told his 
financial aid colleagues, ``It has been a wonderful 40 years of service 
to students.''
  ``It is, I'm sure, a wonderful experience to each of you when you see 
students that have long-since graduated and now are gray-haired, and 
they thank you for what you have done for them over the years,'' Allan 
added. ``That is your overtime pay. Certainly we are not in the highest 
paid profession, but I think that we have the highest rewards for the 
work that we have done.''
  Allan is survived by his wife Vivian and their four children, Robert, 
George, Ray and Christina, and their families.
  It is my distinct honor to remember Allan Purdy's life today. His 
legacy of opening the doors of college to Missourians will be 
remembered by the countless lives he touched.

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