Meet Our Donors

Why We Give

Click a name below to see why these donors give to MUS. Email us if you'd like to share your story.

Mark Counce '77
Reginald A. Dalle
Brett Grinder '91
Bert Johnston '66
Barry Ray
Scott Richman '85
Dan Robertson '80



Mark Counce '77
Instructor in Math
2008 Distinguished Teaching Award Winner



My wife and I give to MUS because we cherish the school and what it has meant in our lives and in the life of our family. The relationships that I enjoy with my colleagues, fellow alumni, students and their families affirm that teaching and coaching at a place like MUS is very meaningful. I appreciate the heritage handed down to me by so many committed men like Mr. Thorn and Mr. Morrison who shaped the school in ways that are still valued today. In a sense, I feel responsible for continuing their legacy so that many more families will be able to reap the benefits that the school continues to offer. So, we give because we are grateful for what MUS has done and we give because we look forward to what the school will do in the hearts and minds of the students and families to come.

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Reginald A. Dalle
Faculty Emeritus



I support the Annual Fund because I feel that it is my duty as a member of the MUS community to contribute to the well being of the school. MUS has a tradition of being generous to its faculty members. In return, my support to the fund is a small token for me to give back to a school that I love to work for and to which I will always be indebted.



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Brett Grinder '91
Vice President Grinder, Taber & Grinder, Inc.



I believe that MUS plays a very important role in the development and future of Memphis. Most MUS alumni come back to the city after college and become instrumental in some form of leadership of the city's business, real estate, non-profit, political, arts, or educational interests. If you look at any positive development the city has had with its museums, downtown, arts programs, or sports teams, most of these major changes and developments have MUS alumni involved and driving that progress. Every major business in town including the banking, finance, manufacturing, distribution, real estate, construction, and legal professions has MUS alumni involved.

The city depends heavily on the leaders MUS produces, and MUS depends heavily on financial support from its alumni and donors to produce those leaders and well-educated men. I'm sure to be a lifelong Memphian, so I see supporting MUS as a smart way to invest back in my hometown.

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Bert Johnston '66
Wyle Laboratories, Maryland



I give to MUS for two reasons. The first reason I give is to repay the school for the privilege of attending. All who attended MUS have been changed for the better and supporting the Annual Fund is an opportunity to partially repay that debt. The second reason I give is to enable others to share the MUS experience. What better legacy is there than helping our youth reach their true potential?


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Memphis University School is such an important "cog" in the wheel that is Memphis....in the life that is our son's. We gladly donate our time and our resources to an institution that focuses on excellence; an institution that instills the knowledge, values and team spirit necessary for our son, for all our sons, to mature and flourish in tomorrow's society...in tomorrow's world.

We thank all those individuals including faculty, coaches, administration and staff for their dedication to making MUS the outstanding learning institution it is today!


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Barry Ray
Principal, Dunavant Upper School



When I first began my teaching career in 1978, Memphis University School was new to me, and I looked at it as a job. It didn't take long to create long and lasting friendships with colleagues, students, and parents. The "job" changed and MUS became more than a place to go to work. Over the years, I have seen (and experienced) what MUS has meant to so many and the way lives here have been positively affected by the education provided for our students. I choose to give to the Annual Fund because I truly believe in the mission of the school. This is no longer a job, but a home. This year my grandson entered the seventh grade at MUS. I hope for him to have the same positive educational experience that generations before him have had. I want him to acquire the academic skills, the leadership training, the commitment to service, and the life-long friendships that I've seen MUS students get. I believe in what we do and am proud to support the school through my participation in the Annual Fund. Without the support of the alumni, parents, grandparents, faculty, and friends of the school, we couldn't provide the same experience for our current and future students.


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Scott Richman '85
Senior Vice President, Informa Economics, Inc.



I have given to MUS since moving back to Memphis in 1991, but after a tour of MUS with my son at a prospective student orientation, I decided to increase my pledge. From taking a tour of MUS and talking to the faculty afterward, I realized how much broader the academic and extracurricular offerings and the diversity of the student body are now compared to when I attended, and that a considerable number of kids get scholarships of some sort. I give to MUS both to support these initiatives and out of appreciaton for the foundation of knowledge MUS provided me for college and beyond.


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Dan Robertson '80
Physician, Ocala Neurosurgical Center



Why do I continue to support the MUS Annual Fund, even though I haven't lived in Memphis in 17 years? I truly believe that without the education I received there and the support MUS faculty gave me, I would not have achieved what I presently enjoy. I have been able to establish a successful neurosurgery practice in Florida, help in the local Salvation Army clinic, and serve on local community boards. I feel that my initial education at MUS instilled in me the necessary tools to achieve these things.

I have vivid memories of interactions with teachers who instilled in me the principles of work and contribute, the importance of attention to detail, getting along with others, and not talking in class. My financial support is my way of saying 'Thank you' for a debt I can scarcely repay.

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