Janesville high school students planning to attend UW-Whitewater got a big surprise last Tuesday when Alumni Quint and Rishy Studer announced their $1 million donation for scholarships to graduates of the Janesville area.

Their creation of the Janesville Promise Fund will award $50,000 to the graduates of both Craig and Parker high schools every year.

“I think what this does is really allows students from Janesville to be financially supported as they attend UW-Whitewater,” Chancellor Richard Telfer said. “It’s enough money that quite a number of students can be helped with this scholarship.”

Telfer said the scholarship will help strengthen the ties between Janesville and UW-Whitewater.

The scholarship amounts will range from $1,000 to $5,000. Students can continue to receive the scholarship for three additional years if they stay enrolled full time at UW-Whitewater.

The Studers are UW-Whitewater alumni from the Janesville area. The two now live in Florida helping people by improving medical facilities, Telfer said.

“We believe in the youth and the future of Janesville, the positive direction of the school district of Janesville and the quality of education provided by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater,” Rishy said in a UW-Whitewater news release.

The Studers are long-time supporters of UW-Whitewater. Quint spoke at a graduation commencement in 2006. Then, in 2008 they supported a room in honor of Florence Kopas. Their donation helped build the technologically-advanced room, which is housed in the College of Education and Professional Studies’ building, Winther Hall.

“Florence is a person who influenced Quint greatly as he was coming through school here,” Telfer said.

According to Telfer, as a Janesville high school graduate with not a lot of money, Quint felt lucky to get in to college and needed a lot of support, which he received while attending UW-Whitewater.

Quint was a special education major at UW-Whitewater. After years of teaching, he founded the Studer Group, a healthcare consulting company.

Rishy and Quint have homes both in Pensacola, Fla. and Janesville.

Karen Schulte, superintendent of the Janesville School District, said the schools are excited to see students benefit from this opportunity because it will give many students a chance they might not have had.

“I think it’s clear that the Studers both enjoy and love UW-Whitewater,” Telfer said. “They’re both very fond of Janesville and they wanted to help both of these areas thrive.”