Millsaps announces $100,000 Reed business scholarship

(October 14, 2002)

Lois P. Reed was a woman who made unexpected decisions. In 1957, at the age of 24, she left a secretarial job in Chicago to move to San Francisco. She didn't know anyone in the city, nor did she have a job waiting for her. She moved there because "it sounded interesting." Reed loved the West Coast, but returned to Chicago after a few years to put her business education to better use. She found her calling as an investment analyst and trust officer in Chicago and later in Boston. Her business acumen and quiet, unassuming manner won her the respect of clients and colleagues alike.

In honor of Reed and business students like her, her brother Dr. John D. Pilgrim, Vice President for Administration at Millsaps, and his wife Anne have endowed a $100,000 scholarship at the Else School of Management. The Lois P. Reed Endowed MBA Scholarship, available to full-time female MBA students from outside the state of Mississippi, will be awarded on the basis of merit to students preparing for careers in financial services.

"I realized that the Renaissance MBA program at Millsaps is something that my sister would have loved," said Pilgrim. "She loved business, literature and ideas. This program would have been a marvelous magnet for her because she believed that business is not just about numbers, but rather about people."

Reed, who graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University in 1956, took a wide range of liberal arts courses while pursuing her degree in business administration. However, the primary business occupation for women in the 1950s was that of secretary. With a desire to find employment more commensurate with her abilities and education, Reed pounded the pavement to find a more fulfilling occupation. Eventually, she was hired as a portfolio manager in 1963, making her one of the first female trust officers at a major bank in Chicago. In 1969, she was hired as a trust officer at State Street Bank and Trust Company in Boston, which is now State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), one of the world's largest investment managers with $729.9 billion in assets under management. Reed stayed with the company from 1969 until her death in January 2002. Her clients regarded her as a model of the ideal trust officer. She had a strong sense of personal and business ethics, distinct expertise in investments and a genuine sensitivity to the needs and personalities of her clients.

But Reed's life was never just business as usual. She had a curiosity and a thirst for adventure that encompassed both her private and professional life.

"Lois was an intrepid traveler," said Pilgrim. "When she married, she and her husband honeymooned for 5 ½ months in Nepal, India and throughout Europe. She loved to travel places that the average tourist didn't get to go."

Even her wedding was unconventional. Her husband-to-be Bob Reed, working in New Delhi at the time, proposed to her by sending her a ring in the mail. She put the ring on her finger and flew to India for the ceremony.

"Lois was a quiet pioneer," said Pilgrim. "She was assertive, but never in an aggressive way. She didn't call attention to herself, but she did what she wanted to do in life. She had the courage to go after what she wanted. I want this scholarship to honor that."

"We are proud to offer this scholarship in honor of a remarkable business woman," stated Millsaps President Frances Lucas-Tauchar. "This gift is made even more meaningful because of the donor's relationship with the college. John Pilgrim's service to Millsaps as a senior administrator and Else School faculty member has been exemplary. I am humbled by his generosity and moved by his commitment to education, through his teaching at Millsaps and in local literacy programs. Truly, this gift is a tribute to two great business leaders."