The University of Georgia today announced that Sanford and Barbara Orkin of Atlanta have extended a long history of giving by establishing a fund to provide scholarship support for low-income students attending the state’s flagship institution of higher education.

The couple’s latest gift of $1 million from the Sanford and Barbara Orkin Family Foundation will establish a scholarship fund, which will be used to provide financial support for tuition, books, room and board, and other living expenses incurred by outstanding, academically talented students who come from low-income families.

Students eligible for Orkin Scholarships may come from families where there is little to no parental involvement and financial resources are minimal to non-existent. In many instances, scholarship recipients will come from families where no current or past family member has ever attended college.

“One of the university’s top priorities is to increase scholarship support for students with significant financial need,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “I am deeply grateful to Sanford and Barbara for their enduring generosity and for establishing this scholarship fund, which will have a transformative impact on the lives of many UGA students.”  

Sanford and Barbara Orkin both attended UGA. This gift signals their strong commitment to help others experience the outstanding education provided by America’s first state-chartered public university.

“A secure source of funding that helps students meet their housing, food and educational requirements, we hope, will help these remarkable young people stay at the university through graduation and on the road to successful careers and full lives,” Sanford Orkin said.  “Barbara and I are truly honored to be able to give back to a university we both love deeply and that has given so much to us.”

The Orkins’ most recent pledge extends a legacy to UGA. The couple has supported the School of Law, the College of Education, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, the College of Public Health, UGA Athletics, the President’s Venture Fund and a range of research, scholarship and faculty support initiatives.