Joy M. Matson Scholarship Honoring Her Parents

This scholarship will be awarded to undergraduate or graduate students pursuing a certificate from Libraries and School of Information Studies, or are student workers within Libraries. Candidates must be in good academic standing and shall be lower, middle-income students. The Donor desires that, whenever possible, this scholarship be awarded to students with the greatest unmet need.

Scholarship amounts will be determined based upon available revenue, and the fund will be administered in accordance with applicable university policies. The scholarship is renewable, provided the recipient continues to meet the eligibility criteria.

Selection decisions for this scholarship/award typically happen in the spring for each upcoming academic year. If you are selected to be a recipient, you will receive an email from the Division of Financial Aid notifying you that there has been an update to your financial aid package. You can check your MyPurdue account, the financial aid tab, at any time for updates.

Recipients

  • 2024: Haoyu (Harry) Zhao

About the Donor

Joy M. Matson is a longtime supporter of Purdue University. Matson’s brother passed away from a life-threatening illness when he was 10 years old. A week later, on Christmas Eve 1957, Joy was born—and she has been an example of her name to those around her ever since.

“My parents paid my brother’s medical bills for 25 years,” Matson says. “They never filed for bankruptcy when they easily could have. Instead, they set up payment plans and made sacrifices for so many years. My family had nothing to give away, but they always had a strong sense of doing what’s right. They are the drive behind why I give.”

Matson grew up in a 900-square-foot house in a small Illinois town of 90 people, wearing hand-me-down clothes and attending school in a three-room schoolhouse. She established the Joy M. Matson Scholarship in honor of her parents, Erma and Delbert Matson, who enabled her to go to college and pursue her dreams despite their hardships. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a science degree and has worked for Purdue Federal Credit Union for 18 years. An award-winning mortgage specialist, Joy believes everyone can make a difference in the lives of others.