Catawba College alumni Dorothy Crunkilton Brown and Gary R. Brown have established an endowed scholarship at their alma mater.

Earnings from the $25,000 scholarship will be awarded annually to a student with outstanding grades who might not otherwise have the financial means to afford a college education.

Dorothy Brown, who always went by Dottie, graduated cum laude in 1959. During her time at Catawba, she was a member of Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges, Miss Catawba, homecoming queen and a member of Kappa Tau Kappa. She was a cheerleader for three years, including chief cheerleader in her senior year, and served for three years as chairman of and performer at May Day activities. In her senior year, she was on the May Court.

Dottie also served on the Student Judicial Board and in the Student Government Association Senate, and she wrote for the yearbook and school newspaper.

After graduation, Dottie taught second grade for several years until the couple’s daughters were born. She became a stay-at-home mom until the girls finished high school, when she went back to teaching in a private academy and helped ready young children for first grade.

Although she had always played a lot of tennis, Dottie became serious about the game after her daughters were grown. She won five Atlanta Doubles championships. In 1977, she was selected as New Neighbor of the Year for metro Atlanta.

Gary Brown, a 1960 Catawba graduate, was a business major and a starting guard on the football team who led Catawba’s conference in punting. After graduation, he worked a short stint a Dan River Mills, then joined Potomac Electric Power for 10 years, ultimately becoming the manager of the accounting department.

In 1973, he joined Xidex Corp as a sales representative, eventually opening an office in Atlanta as sales manager. He spent the majority of his career working for the Silicon Valley entity that was involved in the early days of high tech, rising through the ranks to eastern regional manager with responsibility for the New York, Washington, Atlanta and Dallas offices.

While Dottie was on the tennis court, Gary was on the golf course. Over the years, he won a club championship and a senior club championship. In 1966, he made a run at the U.S. Amateur but failed to qualify.

Dottie is a native of Arlington, Virginia, and Gary is from Mount Airy.