Gifts in Action - Doris Harmon

Meet Doris Vance Harmon

A 1937 graduate of the School of Music, Mrs. Doris Vance Harmon of Sterling, Virginia majored in piano and minored in organ. Shortly after receiving her degree, she married a graduate of the U. of I. College of Law, Reginald Harmon, who later became the first Judge-Advocate General of the U.S. Air Force and with whom she went on to see the world.  Wherever they lived and traveled, she employed her musical talent and skills to communicate, entertain and inspire. 

How she gave

An outstanding gift from Mrs. Harmon allowed the School of Music to establish its first four year full-ride scholarship. The Doris Vance Harmon Scholarship Fund provides a talented incoming freshman resident of Illinois with an all expenses paid ride—including tuition, room and board, fees, and expenses for four full years, beginning in August 2007.

Why she gave

For nearly 70 years, Mrs. Harmon performed regularly as a soloist, accompanist, member of chamber music groups and as a church organist.  She was appreciative of the quality of her professors and of the internationally renowned performers she was privileged to hear as a student—opportunities that she would not have received except for a four-year scholarship awarded to her at the height of the Depression.

Mrs. Harmon felt strongly that her full and varied life was constantly enriched by a music education made possible by the scholarship she received.  Her life-long gratitude for this gift inspired her to create the Doris Vance Harmon Scholarship Fund to enable future Illinois students a similar opportunity to fulfill their dreams of service to society through music. 

The Scholarship’s first recipient

Keith Pitner of Algonquin, Illinois, was selected as the first recipient of the Doris Vance Harmon Scholarship.  He planned to study with the distinguished trombonist, composer and UI professor James Pugh, while working towards a degree in instrumental music education and jazz studies. Keith, whose primary instrument is jazz trombone, graduated in the top 1% of his class from Dundee Crown High School in Algonquin, where he maintained a 3.96 GPA and was inducted into the Dundee Crown Scholars, the highest academic recognition for graduating seniors of Dundee High School.   

What people are saying

Dr. Karl Kramer, director of the School of Music, expressed his gratitude for the thoughtfulness and generosity of Mrs. Harmon and her daughter Susan Harmon-Meyer, who worked diligently with her mother to establish the new scholarship fund. “The School of Music is deeply thankful for the vision of Doris Vance Harmon for endowing the first-ever complete scholarship for a music student. Mrs. Vance Harmon’s generosity ensures that the University of Illinois School of Music will continue to educate the best musicians for generations to come,” said Kramer. 

Although Mrs. Harmon passed away in 2009, her love of music and her generous spirit will live on because of her gift.