Dr. Russell Brooks Butler Barber Scholarship
An honors graduate of Puget Sound in 1957, Dr. Barber received his M.A. from Stanford University as a Danforth Fellow and was awarded his Ph.D from Northwestern University in mass communication. Dr. Barber has two Emmy Awards to his credit - 1984 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Craft as host of “The First Estate: Religion in Review”, a public affairs program which reports on the ways in which modern men and women express their faith and a 1985 award for coverage of Cardinal Cooke’s funeral.

To recognize his accomplishments, an anonymous donor established the Dr. Russell Brooks Butler Barber Scholarship to assist outstanding students studying in the field of Communication Studies. Awards are made on the basis of merit and academic achievement without consideration of financial need.

The Gary L. Peterson Endowed Scholarship
The Gary L. Peterson Scholarship Fund was established by many gifts from students, family, fellow faculty members, and former students of Communication Studies Professor Gary L. Peterson after his retirement from the University of Puget Sound.

Dr. Peterson taught at the University of Puget Sound across four different decades. He began his Puget Sound career in 1969, and taught in what was then the Communication and Theatre Arts Department until his retirement from full-time teaching in 1998. For eleven of those years Dr. Peterson served as department chair.

Dr. Peterson earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Utah, his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at Ohio University. He taught at the University of Washington and Brigham Young University before joining the Puget Sound faculty.

He taught a wide range of courses over his years at Puget Sound, including Argumentation and Debate (serving as Director of Forensics for four years), Speech Education, Persuasion, History and Criticism of Public Address, and Presentational Communication. During his later years he taught primarily in the Applied Communication areas of Group Decision Making, Business and Professional Communication, and Organizational Communication. He believed very strongly in providing students practical and applied experiences, insights into actual organizational practices and policies, and developing specific analyses from their classroom or case experience.

Established in 2004 and awarded annually to a Communication Studies undergraduate major, recognized for academic excellence, promise of achievement in the Communication field and financial need.

Lambda Pi Eta Book Scholarship
The goal of the Lambda Pi Eta book scholarship is to reward dedication to the study of communication and to encourage further study and involvement in the field. Two $100 awards will be given to students to be used at the Puget Sound Bookstore.

Applicants must be:

  • Be a declared Communication Studies major
  • Have completed three Communication Studies classes or have completed two and be enrolled in a third by the beginning of spring semester
  • Submit an unofficial transcript
  • Include a 1-2 paragraph (maximum 1 page) statement describing involvement in the field of communication and plans for future involvement.

A committee will review the applications and notify scholarship recipients.

Forensics Scholarship
Puget Sound Forensics Scholarships are based on academic and forensics achievement. Awards for incoming students usually are $1000-$3000, renewable for three years based on satisfactory participation in the forensics program and maintenance of a 3.0 grade point average. Since Puget Sound’s program focuses on debate, experience in high school debate that emphasizes research is preferred. Deadline for application is January 15.