An estate gift establishing the Roy and Syd Byrd Scholarship Endowment at Tennessee Tech to support nursing students with financial need.
Tennessee Tech said the scholarship from Roy Byrd will help students remain enrolled while supporting the health care workforce in the Upper Cumberland. The endowment honors the memory of Syd Byrd, a 1987 nursing alumna who died in March, 2020.
“It is a way to honor the school that has given so much to my mom and our family,” Lisa Byrd said.
Syd Byrd entered the nursing program in 1985 as a nontraditional student and mother of three. She previously earned a social science degree from Towson State University before moving to Cookeville.
“She had always wanted to be a nurse,” Roy Byrd said. “She always wanted to help people.”
Syd Byrd served as her graduating class president and was a member of Sigma Theta Tau. The press release said she often used her dining room table as a desk and occasionally brought her daughter to classes after school.
“She leaned on the faculty, and they poured into her,” Roy Byrd said. “They were there for her.”
Syd Byrd worked at Cookeville Regional Medical Center for 30 years, eventually serving as the nurse director of 6 North. The press release said she mentored younger nurses in that role, mirroring the guidance she received from university faculty.
“She spent so much of her life at the university,” Roy Byrd said. “I just wanted to give something back.”
The endowment will provide renewable scholarships specifically for students admitted to the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing.
“If what I’m doing rings a bell with anyone, then maybe they’ll do the same thing,” Roy Byrd said.
