An endowed scholarship fund has been established at Southwestern College in memory of Dr. Shanthi Samuel. The Dr. Shanthi Samuel Scholarship for Nursing will promote the delivery of quality healthcare in our community. Scholarships resulting from the fund will be focused on supporting students majoring in the highly anticipated return of the bachelor’s in science level nursing program at Southwestern College.

In addition to the gifts received as part of Samuel’s memorial, a local family, who wishes to remain anonymous, has offered a $65,000 pledge to endow the fund – challenging community members to contribute. The lead donor hopes that, with additional support, the fund could generate multiple scholarships for Southwestern College nursing students each academic year.

“The nursing program continues to make good progress, we are now in the final phase of approval from the Kansas State Board of Nursing (KSBN) and anticipate accepting applicants for entry to the program in the fall of our 2025 academic year,” said nursing program director, Shona Turner. “We presently have students in the pre-nursing pathway who will apply for entry and are excited to begin recruitment efforts in earnest to fill our initial cohort once KSBN approval is received – scholarships are vitally important as we recruit students and build a strong program.” 

The Dr. Shanthi Samuel Endowed Scholarship for Nursing and Health Sciences was created to provide service-minded students financial assistance as they pursue a nursing degree at Southwestern College. 

“The scholarship is named for our friend and neighbor Dr. Shanthi Samuel – while she may not have graduated from Southwestern College, she was a Builder at heart. Dr. Shanthi was a true ambassador of our college, sharing her care and support with numerous students, faculty, and staff for nearly 50 years – we remain grateful to her and the Samuel family and we are excited to honor her legacy through the support of nursing students,” said Kaydee Riggs-Johnson, vice president for advancement, communications, and marketing.

Samuel passed away in May of 2024. She was born in 1941, in the city of Bangalore, South India. She completed her undergraduate and medical school degrees in India, graduating from the Christian Medical College in Vellore in 1967.  It was there that she met and married Chandy Samuel. The newly minted physicians worked together in a small remote mission hospital in South India and provided emergency, primary, and surgical care to a very underserved population before immigrating to the United States in 1971.  They moved to Syracuse, N.Y., to pursue training in their medical specialties; Chandy in surgery and Shanthi in pathology.

They brought their young family to Winfield in 1976 when Chandy (known as Dr. Sam) joined a local surgery practice.  Dr. Shanthi began practicing medicine at William Newton Memorial Hospital in 1980, after completing her pathology residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.  She was a dedicated, patient-centered, detail-oriented pathologist for nearly 35 years and a teacher at heart, offering cancer prevention education to community members and ‘show and tell’ presentations to school children demonstrating the effects of smoking and chronic alcohol use on human organ specimens from her hospital laboratory. 

Samuel loved hosting and caring for Southwestern College students, faculty, and staff and remained a strong supporter and ambassador of the college throughout her lifetime.

“This scholarship will make a great deal of difference in the lives of our students for years to come. The Dr. Shanthi Samuel Scholarship truly is an investment in the future of healthcare in our community. It is a continuation of Dr. Shanthi’s care for others and her dedication to the advancement of healthcare in our community,” said Liz Frombgen, president of Southwestern College.

Obituary for Dr. Shanthi Samuel