Each academic year, the faculty of the Department of Sociology selects a sociology major as recipient of the Loretta M. Morris academic scholarship. Depending on funding, a second student may be selected for the scholarship.
Loretta Morris was a professor in the Sociology Department from 1975-2005, when she retired. While at LMU, she helped establish the Center for Teaching Excellence, which has evolved into the Center for Faculty Development, and taught courses about marriage, families, and childhood. Dr. Morris was inducted into the LMU Faculty Hall of Fame in 2017 after being nominated by her former students.
Prior to teaching at LMU, Dr. Morris was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement, rallied priests and nuns to attend the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery and helped integrate parochial schools in the southern U.S.
Professor Morris died in 2020 and her husband Richard Morris created an endowed scholarship for sociology majors who are rising seniors with a demonstrated record of academic excellence.
Student recipients of the Loretta M. Morris Academic Scholarship:
2023-24 Megan Mingo
2022-23 Elizabeth Iribarren and Olivia Lee (Fall), Garik Sayadkhanyan and Valentina Araya (Spring)
2021-22 Margaret Scroggs