JYM scholarships and support funds

Thanks to our generous supporters, JYM gives away close to $65,000 in scholarship and support funds annually and has received additional funds that support our operations.

Annual scholarships

Edwin Stone Memorial Scholarship (445521)

This scholarship was established in honor of Edwin Stone, class of 1991-92.

Junior Year in Munich Scholarship (447529)

Our general scholarship fund which we need to replenish each year.

Ron Strube Memorial Scholarship Fund (445366)

Ron Strube (1957-1992) spent his early life in Riverton, Wyoming. He was an eagle scout, member of the Presbyterian Church and active in the 4-H Club. Ron was also involved in student government in high school and was a skilled member of the debate team in both high school and at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where he completed his B.A. after spending his junior year in Munich in 1978-79. He graduated from the University of Colorado, Denver with his J.D. in 1982 and remained in the city, where he practiced law, specializing in divorce. Thanks to the initiative of his friends Nan Hussey and Alan Lareau from the JYM class of 1978-79, an annual scholarship within JYM in Ron's memory was created in November 2014.

Ron had a large group of friends and was active in GLB associations. Ron confronted and overcame many obstacles in his life. Growing up on a ranch in generally conservative Wyoming was no easy childhood for this (eventual) gay urban lawyer. Coming of age before the existence of AIDS was widely known outside certain parts of the medical community was also difficult. Before succumbing himself, Ron had lost many friends to this terrible disease. What Ron never lost was the wry, even sarcastic, edge to his sense of humor and the ability to see through people's rationalizations two attributes of his personality that were cherished by his friends and that also served him well as a lawyer.

Timothy Dolan Memorial Scholarship Fund (445173)

Timothy Dolan (1959-2001) had a passion for all of life's experiences, large and small. As the first person granted a leave of absence from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to participate in a foreign study program, his drive to excel and inspire others was contagious.

An extremely upbeat person who led by example, Tim is remembered by the JYM class of 1980/81 as someone who would take on the biggest guy on an opposing rugby team just to experience the joy of victory or the agony of defeat. Always planning group activities and trips, he was able to bring people together at the last minute to jump on a train for a weekend trip or go skinnydipping in the Eisbach under a full moon the last evening of JYM before everyone went home.

The enthusiasm with which Tim embraced life taught others to discover in even the smallest event an occasion for their own personal growth. He reminds us never to forget that it's often those small memorable moments that really make life enjoyable, interesting and worthwhile.

Endowed scholarships

Howard Adler Endowed Scholarship (060737)

This fund was established by Mr. Adler (class of 1971-72) to recognize scholastic achievement, encourage continued progress and provide assistance to students by financing their participation in the Junior Year in Munich Program. "My JYM year of 1971-1972 was one of the most incredible and best years of my life in so many ways. I want to give others the opportunity to experience this and hopefully this scholarship fund will help."

Marianne Riegler Endowed Scholarship Fund (060217)

Dr. Marianne Riegler's career with the Junior Year in Munich Program began in 1955 when she was first hired as an instructor and would ultimately span four decades. As resident director of JYM from 1960-94, thousands of students gained from her unwavering dedication to JYM and the lifelong benefits of studying abroad. On the occasion of JYM's 50th anniversary in 2003, Dr. Riegler was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wayne State University during a ceremony at LMU Munich.

Thanks to the initiative of the JYM class of 1968-69, the Dr. Marianne Riegler Endowed Scholarship Fund was created in 2006. Your continued support will allow this endowment to grow over time and benefit future generations of JYM students. View the Dr. Marianne Riegler virtual memorial.

Professor Marvin S. Schindler Endowed Junior Year in Munich Scholarship Fund (060244)

Marvin Samuel Schindler (1932-2003) earned his bachelor's in Germanic languages and literatures at the University of Massachusetts and was awarded his master's and doctoral degrees in Germanic languages and literatures from The Ohio State University. He was chair of the Department of Foreign Languages at Northern Illinois University (1971-74) and chair of the Department of Romance and Germanic Languages and Literatures at Wayne State University (1974-83). He retired in 1994 after twenty years of dedicated service to Wayne State University and its students.

Marvin Schindler was also director of Wayne State's Junior Year in Germany (Freiburg and Munich) programs from 1975 to 1993. He served twice as resident director of the Junior Year in Freiburg program (1983-84 and 1987-88). The Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg honored him with the university's silver medallion and designation of university senator. In 1987, he earned the highest award given to a civilian by the Federal Republic of Germany: Das Verdienstkreuz, erster Klasse (the medal of honor, first class).

"I am so grateful for my almost 29 years of marriage to Marvin," says Roslyn Abt Schindler. "He had a keen intellect, a brilliant wit, and a wonderful sense of humor. He had a huge heart and a winning smile. A kind and generous man, Marvin was a champion of peace, social justice, the arts and education. He had a fierce commitment to foreign language and culture education, and in particular, the junior year abroad experience. Our very happiest memories as a family were in Germany, especially Freiburg, where he was resident director twice. He was absolutely devoted to the Junior Year in Germany programs, at that time both in Freiburg and in Munich. They were the joy and passion of his professional career. I wanted to do something very special in his memory on the occasion of his 75th birthday on January 2, 2007. The Marvin S. Schindler Endowed Scholarship Fund is the most appropriate way that I can honor him and I am so grateful to those who have already contributed to the fund in Marvin's memory. It truly warms my heart and I know it would Marvin's as well to know that future generations of JYM students will benefit from the fund and that Marvin's name and contributions will live on." – Professor Roslyn Abt Schindler

Schwark Family Endowed Scholarship Fund (061402)

Sabine Schwark, a JYM alumna from the Class of 1970-1971, established the “Schwark Family Endowed Scholarship” in honor of her parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany. While their higher education was interrupted by World War II, Sabine grew up learning about the importance of an education, and she was lucky to have the financial support she needed from her family. Sabine established the “Schwark Family Endowed Scholarship” so that others will benefit as she did from the enriching and truly life-changing experience of living overseas, becoming immersed in a vibrant culture, and making life-long friends.

Susan Henricksen Thompson and Robert Ward Thompson Endowed Scholarship (060807)

Both Susan and Robert Thompson attended college junior year study abroad programs in Europe in the late 1970s. Susan was a participant in the Junior Year in Munich Program (class of 1975-76), both as a student and upon graduation, as an assistant to its Munich-based resident director, Dr. Marianne Riegler. Bob participated in his own college's overseas study program, which was affiliated with the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. This scholarship is awarded to students who are majoring or minoring in a foreign language and who demonstrate both scholastic merit and enthusiasm for studying abroad.

Endowed support funds for students

Horst and Ingrid Daemmrich Fund for JYM Student Research and Internships (477898)

Horst and Ingrid Daemmrich met in the library as graduate students at the University of Chicago, where they discovered a shared joy in the German language and a passion for literature. They would go on to influential academic careers, both independently and as co-authors of books and articles that advanced the comparative study of themes and motifs in literature. 
Born in 1930 in Pausa, in eastern Germany, Horst found refuge in reading works of the enlightenment during the dark days of the Nazi dictatorship. After escaping at age 17 to West Germany, he packed a trunk of books and boarded a freighter to seek a university education in the United States. In Detroit, he worked his way through undergraduate studies at Wayne State University as a Hudson's department store salesclerk.

The daughter of German immigrants, Ingrid was born in Albany, NY, in 1936. She wanted to be a teacher from the moment she lined up her younger brother and sisters in an imaginary classroom. A Radcliffe College graduate, she won a Fulbright scholarship before completing her doctoral degree.

In 1962, the couple married and settled in Detroit, where they began a close scholarly collaboration. Ingrid taught at the Detroit Institute of Technology, while Horst rose from assistant to full professor in Wayne State University's German department. In the early 1970s, they were involved with the JYM program, and Horst served as lead of the Freiburg exchange in 1972-1973.Over the next three decades, while moving to Philadelphia in 1981 to teach at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University respectively, Horst and Ingrid expanded on their idealistic view of literature as the gateway to human understanding. In 1987, they published their Handbook of Themes and Motifs in Western Literature, which became a reference guide for scholars worldwide. Their 1994 Spirals and Circles reexamined classicism and realism from a thematic perspective. After Ingrid's death in 2018, Horst continued his literary research, publishing Self-Realization just before his death in 2021.

Horst conveyed their shared perspective in a 1979 Wayne State University commencement address: “Read and you will discover beauty and truth, contemplation and action, aesthetics and ethics. Reading will open realms that remain closed to us in ordinary life.” To celebrate their lives and passion for German languages and literatures, the Horst and Ingrid Daemmrich Fund was established in 2023 to support students in the Junior Year in Munich program undertaking independent research projects or participating in unpaid internships.

Program support

NextGeneration JYM Endowed Fund (060957)

This endowed program-support fund was generously established by Steve Stambaugh (class of 1971-72) to honor and support the hard work of the Detroit and Munich directors. It is intended to support large-budget items in Munich and is currently helping us to upgrade the technology in our Munich facility.

Operating Fund (223876)

This is the fund that keeps everything running!