Two biology faculty celebrate retirement by establishing an endowed scholarship for students

After many years of service to ECU, Drs. Carol Goodwillie and John Stiller, both faculty in the Department of Biology, began their retirement at end of summer 2024.  Both Drs. Goodwillie and Stiller have been wonderful colleagues and are incredibly gifted instructors who always strived to provide a high-quality learning experience for our students. In tribute to their substantial contributions, ECU awarded them with emeritus/emerita status upon their retirement.

Dr. John Stiller teaching a biology course.

Drs. John Stiller and Carol Goodwillie

Though Drs. Goodwillie and Stiller are no longer teaching our students in the classroom, the lab or field, they are continuing their longstanding efforts to promote student success and enhance the student experience through their establishment of the Drs. Carol Goodwillie and John Stiller Endowed  Scholarship.

This endowment will provide scholarship support for undergraduate students at ECU who are majoring in Biology; especially those with interests in plant biology, ecology or evolution and have demonstrated financial need. Always looking to help students who work hard to succeed, they added a provision in the endowment to indicate that students who are recovering from a low early GPA should be considered competitive for this scholarship. Our department is so happy to know that future biology majors will continue to benefit from Drs. Carol Goodwillie and John Stiller’s commitment to serving our majors and providing them with opportunities to succeed.

Dr. Carol Goodwillie interacting with her students during class.

If you would like to contribute toward the endowment, in support of our students and in tribute to Drs Goodwillie’s and Stiller’s retirement, one can go to this site (www.ecu.edu/give), select Give, select “I want to choose my own designation” under the Designations section, and then expand the listings for the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and then select Drs. Carol Goodwillie and John Stiller Scholarship Endowment. Once the scholarship is selected you can select “continue” and you will be brought back to the page where you can provide the rest of the donation information.

Give to the Drs. Carol Goodwillie and John Stiller Scholarship Endowment

Drs. John Stiller and Carol Goodwillie enjoy refreshments by a campfire.