Contact: Sammy McDavid
Dick Wiggers (c) displays a plaque announcing the Wiggers Scholarship at MSU. With him is former business partner James Galloway (r), who endowed the award, and Edwin Duett, holder of the university's Lutken Chair of Insurance.
A scholarship being established at Mississippi State University is honoring longtime Columbus insurance executive Richard G. "Dick" Wiggers.
An initial gift from James C. Galloway Jr. is making possible the College of Business and Industry scholastic award.
The goal of the Wiggers Scholarship "is to aid in 'paying forward' the opportunity for a deserving MSU student pursuing a career in the insurance industry," Galloway said. "That's why we are very pleased to be able to honor him in this way."
The scholarship will be awarded on an annual basis to a student majoring in risk management and insurance.
Galloway said his longtime friend and former business partner has enjoyed a very successful career in the insurance industry. "Dick Wiggers gave me the opportunity to join him in the business and do the same," he added.
An Indianola native, Wiggers attended Mississippi State on a football scholarship in 1941. He left the university when called to active military service during World War II.
Wiggers began his career in insurance in 1947 and had several ventures. Galloway joined Wiggers in 1981 and purchased the agency in 1983. Though semi-retired, Wiggers continues to work with what now is Galloway-Chandler-McKinney.
The Richard Wiggers Endowed Scholarship is an open fund in the Mississippi State University Foundation and may be increased through additional contributions. For more information, telephone Amy Cagle of the MSU Foundation at (662) 325.1006.