Kirksville, Mo. (October 2009)―It says a lot about a person when friends and family hold him in such high regard that they create a scholarship in his honor. Such is the case with the late John D. Black, who served as professor of zoology at Truman from 1948 through 1973. Two Truman alumni, Sharron (Bailey) Quisenberrry (’66) and Larry Quisenberry (’66, ’75), are leading a fund drive for the John D. Black Scholarship to recognize the immeasurable impact Black had on so many lives.

The goal for the fundraising initiative is to build the John D. Black Scholarship to the $100,000 endowment level. The Quisenberrys are leading the charge by contributing $5,000 annually for the next five years for a total contribution of $25,000, and the couple is encouraging others whose lives were touched by Black to make a gift to the scholarship fund.

Black is remembered by many as a teacher and mentor, as well as a lifelong friend, and the influence of this legendary professor lives on through the scholarship fund named in his honor. The John D. Black Scholarship, which was established at Truman in 1988, helps lighten the financial burden for pre-med students, and contributions to the fund will enhance Black’s legacy for future generations.

While serving as sponsor of the Pre-osteopathic Club at Truman, Black acted as the unofficial pre-medicine advisor and is credited as the first pre-osteopathic advisor in the country. “I was one of Dr. Black’s mentees, and my husband, Larry, and I became lifelong friends with Dr. Black until his death in 1996,” says Sharron Quisenberry. “The students he guided, encouraged, inspired and supported are reflected by the large number of students he mentored who became successful as medical doctors, scientists and teachers.”

An Arkansas native, Black was known for his lifelong work in the field of fisheries. Sources have ranked his doctoral thesis, The Distribution of the Fisheries of Arkansas, among the most important works in the study of Arkansas fisheries. Black authored several articles and two books, Biological Conservation with Particular Emphasis on Wildlife, which he used in class, and A Yellowstone Summer.

Recognized internationally as an expert on plant-insect interactions and plant resistance to insects, Sharron is vice president for Research and Economic Development at Iowa State University. She received a bachelor of science in education degree in biology from Truman in 1966. She earned a master of arts in environmental biology from Hood College and holds a master of science and a doctorate in entomology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Larry serves as program coordinator at Iowa State University reporting to the executive vice president and provost. He graduated from Truman with a bachelor of science in business education in 1966 and earned a master of arts degree in school administration in 1975. He received his doctor of philosophy in general school administration with support areas of study in higher and adult education from the University of Missouri-Columbia.