Fuller E Callaway Foundation | Scholarship Programs

Fuller E. Callaway Foundation also administers two other scholarship programs, both of which have received advance approval from Internal Revenue Service. These programs are named in honor of the late Hatton Lovejoy, prominent LaGrange attorney, who advised the Callaway enterprises from 1906 until his death in 1964.

Hatton Lovejoy, trusted confidante and Callaway family friend, received an engineering degree from the University of Georgia in 1896 and a law degree from that institution in 1897. After graduation, he began the practice of law in LaGrange where he was first retained by Fuller E. Callaway, Sr.

As attorney for Fuller E. Callaway, Sr., Hatton Lovejoy applied for and obtained the charter for Fuller E. Callaway Foundation in the year 1917. Since its very inception, he was closely connected with the Foundation's operations as legal counsel and also served as its Vice President from December 20, 1933 until his passing on April 6, 1964.

Mr. Lovejoy fully developed the great talents with which he was blessed. He was a leader who gave strength to all of the institutions he touched, but especially those of education and of his chosen profession - the law.

Hatton Lovejoy maintained a keen interest in the young and found a deep satisfaction in providing help where it was needed. His philosophy was summed up in his 1951 Alumni Day address at the University of Georgia as follows:

"It seems to me the greatest reward in life should come to a man who aids a young man in developing his powers and ability, in training in the ability to think, and in the inculcating of those qualities which make for fine character, so that these young men may become the greatest men possible in their professions and in their communities."

The life of Hatton Lovejoy was characterized by his uncanny ability to analyze and determine the facts in a given situation. He loved people and evidenced a deep feeling of loyalty to his friends. A scholar, athlete and leader of men, Mr. Lovejoy leaves those students who come after him a great example to follow.

The purpose of the Hatton Lovejoy Scholarship Plan (undergraduate scholarships) is to encourage and assist worthy young men and women to prepare themselves through college training for positions of community leadership and service.

Applicants for scholarship awards shall have been residents of Troup County, Georgia for at least two years. Applicants for scholarship awards must be graduates (or scheduled for graduation within six months) of an accredited high school with a scholastic standing in the upper 25% of their class. A maximum of ten scholarship awards may be awarded each year under the Hatton Lovejoy Scholarship Plan.

The next application deadline is February 15, 2010

From its beginning in 1965 through the year ended December 31, 2009, the Hatton Lovejoy Scholarship Plan has awarded $4.42 million in scholarship funds to its recipients.

Application forms and information may be obtained by contacting the Hatton Lovejoy Scholarship Plan Committee, P.O. Box 790, LaGrange, Georgia 30241 or by following this link:

The graduate studies scholarship program administered by the Foundation is named the Hatton Lovejoy Graduate Studies Fund.

The graduate studies scholarship grants are open to any person enrolled or accepted in any accredited postgraduate program of study. First preference is given to children of former employees of Callaway Mills who graduated from high school in Troup County, Georgia (LaGrange, Hogansville, and West Point, GA) and who currently live in Troup County, Georgia. Second preference is given to those who currently live in Troup County, Georgia who graduated from high school in Troup County, Georgia. Third preference is given to those who have been employed or lived in Troup County, Georgia for the last ten years or more and can demonstrate a likelihood of employment in Troup County after completion of the graduate degree. For those students within two years of completing their undergraduate degree or graduate degree, if consecutive, residency within Troup County is based on the residency of their parent or guardian.

Funds for the graduate studies scholarships were provided by a bequest in the will of Fuller E. Callaway, III, who died in 1971. Awards are based on ability, motivation, character, and need. Scholarship grants under the program vary according to the need of the individual applicants and are renewable based on the applicants' satisfactory academic performance.

From its beginning in 1983 through the year ended December 31, 2008, the Hatton Lovejoy Graduate Studies Fund has awarded $3.86 million in scholarship grants to its recipients.

The next application deadline is May 17, 2010.

Application forms and information may be obtained by contacting the Hatton Lovejoy Graduate Studies Fund Committee, P.O. Box 790, LaGrange, Georgia 30241 or by following this link:

Sue Brown is a Sims Scholarship recipient who is now employed at West Georgia Health System. Another major activity of the Foundation has been its scholarship support for nursing professionals for West Georgia Health System.

In April 1967, in response to an acute local and national need for nursing professionals, Charles D. Hudson, then serving as Vice President and a member of the Board of Trustees, led the Foundation in establishing a bold new program of nursing scholarships for the LaGrange hospital, now known as West Georgia Health System. Under the program, sorely needed scholarship funds were exchanged for commitments for desperately needed nursing services at the hospital in LaGrange.

Named for the late George E. Sims, Jr., a prominent LaGrange attorney, the Sims program, administered by West Georgia Health System, with funding provided by the Foundation, has awarded hundreds of nursing scholarships, with a total value of more than $8.4 million. At any given time, the majority of nurses at the hospital in LaGrange are graduates of the George E. Sims, Jr. Nursing Scholarship Program.

The Sims program has furnished critically important nursing professionals that have enabled West Georgia Health System to grow to where it now provides a full continuum of health care services. Such services range from prenatal care to long-term care and hospice services, a growth well demonstrated by the increase in gross patient revenues… from $2.3 million in fiscal year 1967 to more than $157 million in fiscal year 2005, an increase of more than 6,800 percent!

For additional information on the George E. Sims, Jr. Nursing Scholarship Program, including an application, visit the West Georgia Health System scholarships page.