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By Alex Branch

Weldon Eugene Bond Jr., DO, was the first Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine student to walk across the stage when the inaugural class graduated in 1974.

While that honor was the result of his last name’s fortuitous place in the alphabet, Bond was proud to be part of the Fort Worth medical school’s history.

Though he passed away six years ago, Dr. Bond would be equally proud that a scholarship established in his memory helps train current TCOM students to become innovators in health care, said Colleen Bond Steeger, Dr. Bond’s daughter.

So Steeger said she is excited to attend the first UNT Health Science Center Scholarship Banquet on Jan. 30 to honor donors and scholarship recipients.  It will be Steeger’s first opportunity to meet Elizabeth Baquet, the recipient of the Weldon Eugene Bond Jr., DO, Memorial Scholarship.

Steeger has received letters of appreciation from Baquet, but they never have met in person.

“I’ll be there representing my family,” Steeger said. “My father believed strongly in TCOM and would be delighted to know that he helped someone else fulfill their dreams of becoming a doctor.”

Paying for graduate or professional school often is an overwhelming experience for students. While the Health Science Center strives to make its programs affordable, students graduate with an average federal loan debt ranging from $17,000 to $116,000 depending on the program.

During his career, Dr. Bond was active in TCOM alumni activities and served as an Associate and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. He cared for many elderly and low-income patients at his family practice in Grand Prairie, Steeger said.

He was known for his personable bedside manner.

“He didn’t just learn about patients’ health, but also their families,” Steeger said. “It’s a bedside manner you might not see as much today, but he believed that was the way to practice medicine.”

Baquet, a second-year student, said she was honored to earn the scholarship in Dr. Bond’s name.

“This scholarship is an encouragement to me that I am completing my goals and it is evidence that my hard work is not going unnoticed,” she said. “It is a positive motivator to propel me into my studies for the coming year, with the goal of being a competent and able physician.”

Scholarships awarded in fiscal year 2016-17

1. A.E. Brooks Endowed Scholarship
2. Weldon Eugene Bond, Jr. D.O. Memorial Scholarship
3. The Rachel Dauphin Memorial Scholarship Fund
4. The Dunlap Family Scholarship
5. The Tom Hanstrom Memorial Scholarship
6. The W.R. & Constance Jenkins Scholarship Fund
7. Jeremiah G. Mills Memorial Scholarships
8. The Moorman Family Scholarship
9. The Elizabeth Reeves Henning Scholarship
10. The David M. Richards, D.O., Scholarship
11. James O. Royder, D.O., Endowed Scholarship
12. Ruby B. Dean Scholarship for Physician Assistant Studies
13. Ruby B. Dean Scholarship for Physical Therapy Program
14. Dr. Gil B. Scarnati Scholarship
15. The Dr. C.W. and Joanie Spellman Endowed Scholarship Fund
16. The Wayne & Norma Lee Stockseth Endowed Scholarship Fund
17. Ray & Edna Stokes Endowed Scholarship
18. Rev. Barbara Wordinger Scholarship Fund in the Visual Sciences
19. Justin Capers, PA Scholarship
20. The Alan and Marianne Rose Levine TCOM Pediatric Award
21. MaKasha Colonvega TCOM Memorial Scholarship
22. PA Endowed Scholarship
23. SPH Endowed Scholarship
24. TCOM Alumni Association Scholarship
25. TCOM Memorial Scholarship
26. Graduate Student Association Scholarship

For a list of full scholarship opportunities: https://unthsc.academicworks.com/opportunities

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