AHIMA - American Health Information Management Association

Annie Blaylock Memorial Scholarship
	Annie Blaylock, CCS was a coder for Novato Community Hospital. Whether she was coaxing physicians to complete medical records with mounds of chocolate chip cookies, sharing her gardenias, or a hug, Annie always wore a smile and shared of herself with those around her. She is remembered and loved by all who knew her as a gentle, enthusiastic, and warm soul and a dedicated member of the HIM profession.
In 2002, a gift from Jim Blaylock, RHIA underwrote this scholarship in memory of his wife. The Annie Blaylock Memorial Scholarship was awarded for the first time in 2001 through gifts from Jim Blaylock and employees of Kaiser Hospital.

Rita Finnegan Memorial Scholarship Fund
	Rita served as president of AHIMA from 1975-1976 and as Executive Director from 1982-1991. She began her career as director of the Medical Record Department at the University of Illinois Hospitals, where she developed the first baccalaureate medical record administration curriculum. Throughout her career, she became recognized by many as an extraordinary educator and mentor, and as an advocate for the HIM profession.
The Rita Finnegan Memorial Fund was established in 2001 with a gift of $10,000 from MC Strategies, Inc., a matching gift from AHIMA, and member contributions. This fund provides a scholarship to an outstanding HIM student each year.

Jimmy Gamble Memorial Scholarship Fund
	Jimmy was a sales professional for 3M Health Information Systems for 25 years and an associate member of AHIMA since 1989. He exemplified the hard work and dedication to excellence that is at the core of the HIM profession and was known for his keen appreciation for his colleagues, clients, friends, and family. Jimmy was 48 years old when he passed away in 2001 after battling Leukemia.
3M HIS established the Jimmy Gamble Memorial Fund with a $10,000 gift as part of HI & T week in 2002. This fund provides a scholarship to an outstanding HIM student each year. The first Jimmy Gamble Memorial Scholarship was funded by a donation from Margaret M. Stewart, RHIA, past president of AHIMA, and presented in 2001.

Viola M. Griffin Memorial Scholarship Fund

Vi Griffin served on the AHIMA Board of Directors from 2001-2003. In addition to her volunteer service with AHIMA, Vi also served as President of the Colorado HIMA and gave generously of her time to numerous causes and to her church. The 2000 recipient of the AHIMA/FORE Volunteer Triumph Award, Vi's exceptional career in HIM included 40 years at Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO, where she retired as HIM Director and Quality Assurance Coordinator. Vi served as an outstanding role model and mentor to those entering the profession, and was an advocate for students through her involvement as an advisor and practice supervisor for area colleges.

The Vi Griffin Memorial Fund was established in 2003 with a gift of $10,000 from Craig Hospital, contributions from the AHIMA Board, and member friends and colleagues. An annual scholarship is presented to an outstanding HIM student attending school in or a resident of Colorado.

Sanfra L. Key Memorial Scholarship
	As a single parent, Sanfra L. Key, RHIT, returned to school in 1992 to pursue a career in HIM. After being credentialed in 1996, she worked for various hospitals doing the work she truly loved. Always available to her clients, she was a fountain of resource and information. Sanfra had a dynamic personality and was dearly loved by her family and friends. Sanfra recently passed away from cancer.

The Sanfra L. Key Memorial Scholarship was established in 2003 with an initial gift from Healthcare Contract Resources.

Connie Marshall Memorial Scholarship

Connie Marshall, a longtime employee of MedQuist, began her career with Transcriptions Limited in August of 1984 as the Manager of Northern California. She established the outstanding San Francisco offices of California from the ground floor. Many of the Bay Area clients today were accounts Connie solicited and kept going for years. Connie was the recipient of Office of the Year award for her efforts in the Haywood Office. Connie dedicated over 15 years of service with Medquist and will be dearly missed.

The Connie Marshall Memorial Scholarship was established in 2004 with an initial gift from MedQuist.

Grace Whiting Myers General Scholarship Fund
	Grace Whiting Myers was a record clerk with a vision of a national organization for the standardization of what would become the HIM profession. As a founding member of the "Club of Record Clerks" and the first president of ARLNA (later AHIMA), she worked diligently towards this goal throughout her career. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the profession, she was appointed honorary life president of ARLNA.
The Grace Whiting Myers Scholarship fund is supported annually by individual, corporate, and state association gifts designated to support FORE merit scholarships. This includes gifts from all donors and high bidders at the FORE Not-So-Silent Auction, whose proceeds directly support FORE Merit Scholarships .

Esther Mayo Sherard Scholarship
	Esther Mayo Sherard overcame the restrictions of segregation to become the first female African American Registered Record Librarian in the United States. Ms. Sherard believed strongly that students of all races should have the opportunity to become HIM professionals, and established a school dedicated to this goal.
This scholarship was established in 2000 by the Esther Mayo Sherard Foundation. Now awarded annually to an outstanding African American student, the award continues to be funded through the Esther Mayo Sherard Foundation.

Lucretia Spears Scholarship
	The Lucretia Spears Scholarship was established in 1998 through a trust established by Ruth Wyeth Spears.

Dot Wagg Memorial Scholarship
	Dorothy Wagg, JD, RHIA was an active AHIMA member, past director of AHIMA, and active member and past president of Massachusetts HIMA. Dot was known for her expertise in legal issues and compliance. She embraced her knowledge in her own life's work and frequently shared that knowledge with others. Dot brought both legal and HIM experience to her most recent job as vice president of HIM/compliance at Applied Management Systems in Burlington, MA.
The Dot Wagg Memorial Scholarship is funded by an annual gift from the Massachusetts HIMA and additional gifts from member friends and colleagues. An annual scholarship is awarded to a credentialed member pursuing a graduate degree, with a preference to those pursuing their J.D.

Susan Hull, MPH, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P joined the AHIMA staff in 2002 and brought with her a wealth of experience in Health Information Management, an insatiable curiosity for knowledge and a wry sense of humor that inspired her peers. Susan’s contributions over her distinguished career included content developed for almost every clinical coding resource product line in the AHIMA catalog today.

Susan had a passion for education, so a memorial fund for a scholarship has been established in her name and is awarded each year. The Susan Hull scholarship is designated to go to a member who holds one of our coding credentials (CCS, CCS-P or CCA) and who is going on for an advanced degree (Associate, Bachelors or Masters Degree)

"You should go to college and learn to be a medical record librarian." This was the advice, my mother, Margaret Lloyd, gave me many years ago. She thought "medical records" would be a good profession for me, and was delighted in knowing she was right. Throughout her 92 years, she consistently advised young people - whenever and wherever she met them - to get an education. After her death in 2006, my husband and I established this FORE scholarship in her memory. We can’t think of a better way to honor her memory than to assist in the education of future HIM professionals.

My Dad was a strong believer in education – not necessarily for the sake of a degree, but because he thought you could never learn too many things! Although he was not involved in healthcare professionally, and in fact I suspect never quite fully understood exactly what AHIMA was about, he thought it was great that one of the things I helped raise funds for were scholarships. Providing a scholarship in his memory to a student from our state of New Jersey seemed like a nice idea, and it has indeed been very gratifying each year when my Mom receives a thank you note from a student who has benefited from this award.

FORE Named Scholarships