$3.5M Donation to UNC-Chapel Hill, in Memory of Wife

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill: March 2, 2022: In honor of the late Bettie R. McKaig, ’71, ’78 (D.D.S.), ’84

(M.P.H.), UNC alumus Ross Vaughan donated $3.5 million to Carolina establishing endowments and funds in several areas across campus that are important to both of them.

“One thing about getting old, you don’t talk about your or your spouse’s death,” shared Vaughan ’66, ’70 (MD), retired neonatologist and professor of pediatrics and long-time supporter of UNC-Chapel Hill. “Throughout my career, death is something I had to learn to handle, but even now with my family, we avoid these conversations because they’re painful.”

Ross lost his wife of 25 years died unexpectedly in February 2020.

Bettie was a trailblazer in her field. She earned a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene, a dental degree and a master of public health—all from Carolina. She was a successful, solo practitioner who owned her own dental practice in Raleigh for more than 30 years.

“We had talked about student support at the dental school being her main focus,” said Ross. “She believed strongly in the University that made her life and career. She didn’t have kids of her own, and so I thought, ‘These could be the kids she supports.’”

“I encourage people to talk about the end of your lives, because it’s going to happen to us all,” said Ross. “It’s important to be thoughtful about what you support and plan ahead so that the people who survive you know what you would like to have happen and what you would like to do.

“Bettie and I both went to UNC and were incredibly strong supporters throughout our lives,” added Ross. “In the last two years, thinking of the long-term impact of this gift and how Bettie would have felt about it — it’s one of the few things that’s really made me smile.”

Ross established endowments and funds in several areas across campus:

• The Bettie R. McKaig Scholarship Fund, held by the Dental Foundation of North Carolina, to provide need-based scholarship support to women D.D.S. students from North Carolina;

• The Bettie R. McKaig and Ross L. Vaughan Scholarship Endowment at the UNC Health Foundation to support medical students;

• The Bettie R. McKaig and Ross L. Vaughan Study Abroad Scholarship;

• The Bettie R. McKaig and Ross L. Vaughan Blue Sky Scholars Fund to support middle-income students admitted to Carolina;

• The Bettie R. McKaig and Ross L. Vaughan Carolina Covenant Endowment Fund to support low-income students who’ve earned their place at Carolina; and

• wncA fund to support faculty in the Public Health Dentistry program at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Photo: UNC-Chapel Hill Bettie and Ross Vaughan 

wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington