THE MARY A. VIVIANO SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Mary’s achievements are well-known. For over thirty years, she served our industries and community with distinction. She began as a landman, then earned her law degree and joined Davis, Graham & Stubbs and, later, Welborn, Sullivan, Meck & Tooley in Denver. She became General Counsel at EnCana USA and then at Vantage Energy. Importantly, she was an acknowledged leader of the Foundation, serving in numerous capacities, most notably as Chair of the Special Institutes Committee for many years. Her dedication to the Foundation was the reason her colleagues bestowed on her the title of Honorary Trustee. As further evidence of her devotion, Mary included a bequest to the Foundation in her will.
Mary also spent countless hours mentoring young women engaged in the practice of mineral law. Because of Mary’s dedication to mentoring, Mary’s family is contributing seed money to the Viviano Scholarship Fund, which will be administered by the Foundation and designed to defray some of the expense borne by law students, particularly women, interested in natural resources law at the Foundation’s constituent law schools.
Mary’s family wanted a scholarship established in Mary’s name to be a lasting legacy, which can only be accomplished with an endowment of at least $150,000. Our goal is to raise that amount by March 31, 2021, allowing us to adequately fund an endowed scholarship that will have a meaningful impact towards the cost of a student’s legal education. To achieve this goal, Mary’s family has contributed $50,000 and has agreed to match contributions dollar-for-dollar up to an additional $50,000. But we cannot reach our goal of an endowed scholarship in perpetuity without donations from you – Mary’s friends, family, and colleagues.
As we mourn the loss of our dear friend and colleague, we are confident that Mary would be pleased with the establishment of a scholarship in her name that continues to help educate law students, particularly women, in the natural resources field for years to come.