Dr. George C. & Mrs. Prilla Smith Brackett and Dr. Ike Brackett

Gwendolyn Conrad Brackett taught French classes at SIU and its University High School for 20 years, during which time she spent three very profitable summers in France while completing her Master’s degree. Gwen was a fine teacher, agreeing with Ellen Browning Scripps that education’s paramount obligation is to develop in students the ability to think clearly and independently, and the ability to live confidently, courageously, and hopefully. By fostering these abilities in students Gwen will never meet, the Gwendolyn Conrad Brackett Memorial Scholarship is intended as a living testament to her wise and caring influence in so many lives. In her modesty, Gwen wanted no memorial; we hope she would smile, nevertheless, to learn that new generations of students are being helped to study abroad in her name.