Dr. Dale Meyer (Col ’79) had never been on Grounds when he arrived to start his first year in August of 1975, alone, his surfboard strapped to the top of his 1966 Chevy Impala. He’d already been living on his own that summer, sharing a condominium with five friends in Ocean City in his home state of Maryland. "Nobody in my family had gone to college—all these families were there, moving their kids in," he remembered of move-in day. "Like it was their first time away."

The University of Virginia wasn't on Meyer's radar when he was applying to schools. But the college counselor at his Catholic high school submitted his name for consideration for a scholarship at UVA. Meyer knew he’d need financial support and was aiming to get a Maryland State Senatorial Scholarship, a need-based award for in-state students.

Meyer arrived at an upscale hotel for the UVA scholarship interview wearing a leather jacket. "I must have been out of my mind that day; I don't know what I was thinking. Why I went in there without a coat and tie I have no idea—I wore a coat and tie to school every day! I walk in, and there are five guys lined up, all dressed up in blue blazers and orange and blue ties," he recalled. "I don't know who those guys were, but I'd love to talk to them now and say thanks, guys, thank you for giving me a shot—despite the leather jacket, platform shoes, and open collar shirt."

The aid package UVA offered Meyer would allow him to graduate debt-free. "It was one of those deals you couldn't say no to," he said. "I had no loans. That was important to me, where I was coming from. My family was very conservative financially, and resource-wise. I don't know if I would have gone to UVA if I’d had loans."

His aid package included 15 hours of work study. His first job on Grounds was packing films for the Curry School, with a shift that started at 7 a.m. "That did not work out. I had arranged my schedule so that my earliest class was at 10 a.m. After that first year I looked for other jobs," he said. Meyer found another job in one of the dormitory IM Sports offices, checking out basketballs and other sports equipment—a job with a later start time, and one during which he could study while staffing the desk. Meyer was on a pre-med track. "I had wanted to be a doctor since the time I could remember—at least eight years old," he said. His fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, was the center of his social life. He lived on the Lawn his senior year.

Meyer is currently a Professor of Ophthalmology at Albany Medical College and is the former director of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery at the Lions Eye Institute. He met his wife, Dr. Joy Meyer, a Princeton graduate, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. They are parents to a son and daughter, both young adults.

Joy accompanied Dale to Grounds for his 40th Reunion in 2019—they stayed in East Lawn 16, Dale's former room, and reconnected with many of Dale's ’79 classmates, including Katie Couric. They met President Jim Ryan, whose leadership style they admire. The Meyers are also big fans of University basketball coach Tony Bennet, and they share the same values around which Bennett has built his championship program: humility, passion, unity, servanthood, and thankfulness.

It’s thankfulness that inspired them to create the Meyer Family Scholarship, a need-based scholarship for out-of-state students, at UVA. "There are things that happened in my life—including going to the University of Virginia—that I deeply appreciate," Meyer reflected. "You look back on them and go, wow, it's amazing how that happened and so then that happened. I think God was calling, and it just took a while for me to answer. So I have to say thank you God for the opportunities, and of course for the University of Virginia."

Their decision to use a charitable gift annuity to fund the scholarship was a practical one. A CGA is created with a simple contract—an individual or couple makes a gift of cash or stock at a minimum level, and the University of Virginia Foundation (UVAF) pays them and/or their loved one a fixed annuity for life. At the end of the contract term, the remainder will be used by University for the purposes specified. At the end of the Meyers’ contract term, the remainder will be use to fund the Meyer Family Scholarship.

When they first reached out to create their annuity, the University wasn’t approved to do charitable gift annuities in their home state of New York. They patiently waited for that process to be completed, rode out some market ups and downs, and were able to sign the paperwork this summer—the University's first CGA in New York.

"A CGA is a win-win," Meyer said. "Joy and I want to make provisions for each other in our investment and estate planning. [With a flexible deferred CGA], we can start payments sooner or later. It's there if we need it."

The Meyers hope that the recipients of the Meyer Family Scholarship continue the cycle of opportunity and gratitude that started with Dale's scholarship at UVA. "To those who have been given much, much is expected," said Joy. "This gift is an example of that. Dale benefited from somebody else's generosity. Now we are able to give that opportunity to someone else, who hopefully feels that same responsibility. We hope they see it as a gift not to be wasted, an opportunity to pass on to bless others." Dale added, "To those students, I would say 'keep things in perspective, seek the good, seek the right, seek the true, and pay it forward.'"