Nathan Brown awarded first Jimmy Shaheen Scholarship at Ohio University Eastern
Nathan Brown, a freshman majoring in education, was awarded the first Jimmy Shaheen Scholarship at Ohio University Eastern. Brown graduated from Union Local High School in 2021.
“I am honored to receive this scholarship,” Brown said. “This scholarship will help me finance my education and it will encourage and allow me to stay in the community to get my degree close to home.”
Local attorney Micheal J. Shaheen endowed a scholarship at Ohio University Eastern in 2019 to honor his older brother Jimmy Shaheen’s legacy.
“I want to give back and honor my brother in a way that is consistent and meaningful to the community,” Michael Shaheen said. “I hope that each student who receives this scholarship at OHIO Eastern will have the same compassion for kids as Jimmy did and this will help them complete their education.”
“Mr. Shaheen has both honored his brother, Jimmy Shaheen, and invested in the future of the Ohio Valley by creating the Jimmy Shaheen Scholarship. The mission of Ohio University Eastern, to make higher education affordable and accessible in our community, is strengthened with Shaheen’s gift,” OHIO Eastern Dean David Rohall, Ph.D., said. “This scholarship will help us recruit students who plan to reside in the area and whose experience at OHIO will better enable them to serve the region.”
Brown is enrolled in the middle childhood education program with a mathematics and social science emphasis. “I originally planned to be a music teacher, but I would have had to travel to Athens and leave home. I wanted to stay close to home and take advantage of the affordable tuition at the regional campus,” Brown said. “I am confident that I will receive a quality education at OHIO Eastern. “
Upon graduation, Brown plans to apply for a position in the Ohio Valley as a middle school math teacher.
“I feel I am the person that can make math fun and help students understand math,” Brown said.
Like Brown, Jimmy Shaheen wanted to help kids. He worked in Steubenville schools and at the School of Bright Promise with students in special education programs or who had other challenges.
“My brother was not an outstanding student as a youth, but he was well-liked and was known throughout the community for being a man who truly cared about people and children, especially those who had academic or development disadvantages or challenges of their own,” Michael Shaheen said.
The endowed scholarship will be awarded annually to a student accepted for admission to Ohio University Eastern. To honor Jimmy’s passion for helping children, the student must have demonstrated financial need, and preference will be given to students majoring in education.
“Not only would he approve of this scholarship, but I feel it’s something he would have wanted,” Michael Shaheen said of his brother.