Napoleon Hill Foundation gives $100,000 to UVa-Wise scholarship

Dr. Charles Johnson, chairman, and Don Green, executive director and vice president, both of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, present the College with a check for $100,000

The Napoleon Hill Foundation Scholarship at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise grew by $100,000 with a donation presented by Dr. Charles Johnson, chairman, and Don Green, executive director and vice president, both of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

The scholarship fund now stands at more than $400,000 with the donation, which was made during the annual Napoleon Hill Day on Monday, Oct. 22, at UVa-Wise. The Napoleon Hill Scholarship provides annual assistance for 12 business students. Green says in the future, the Foundation hopes to grow the scholarship and help more students each year.

“One of the goals of the Napoleon Hill Foundation is to make the world a better place,” Green said. “We’re making the world a better place through these scholarships.”

The Foundation also provides money for a professorship at the College. The Napoleon Hill Professorship in business currently provides more than $378,000 for the endowed professorship.

Another highlight of Napoleon Hill Day was motivational speaker Bill Bartmann. The billionaire businessman spoke to College faculty, staff, students and more than 600 high school students about overcoming failures to succeed in life.

At the age of 14, Bartmann became homeless, dropped out of high school and became a member of a street gang. He began turning his life around by passing the GED and putting himself through college and law school. Through a number of business failures and successes, Bartmann became a millionaire three times over and finally a billionaire.

Headquartered on the campus of UVa-Wise, the Napoleon Hill Foundation is a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to promoting Hill’s philosophy and “to making the world a better place in which to live.”

Napoleon Hill was born in poverty in a one-room cabin on the Pound River on Oct. 26, 1883. From these humble beginnings, the Wise County native became an advisor to presidents and a best-selling author. During the early 20th century, Hill interviewed the nation's most successful business leaders, including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford. Hill compiled his eight-volume set The Law of Success, a collection of the philosophy of individual achievement. He later condensed his research to compile “Think and Grow Rich,” often called one of the most important motivational books ever written.

The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation’s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise offers Virginia's only undergraduate degree in software engineering, among 28 other degrees and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

Posted October 26, 2007