Memorial Scholarship Supports Biology Majors

Pat Bridle, BS ’79, had a knack for challenges.

Her husband Sam’s career with Sohio/BP involved relocating, including stints in Texas, Chicago and Cleveland. Not only did the family have to move but Pat was also required to give up her own research positions. Nevertheless, with typical good cheer, she would find a job, places to volunteer and settle children Nick and Leah into new schools. 

Wherever they went, Pat made her own education a priority as well. As an adult, she pursued and earned master’s degrees in biology and business before eventually becoming a research administrator at the Cleveland Clinic.

“We were always moving,” Sam, BSCHE ’80, said. “Pat was the kind of person that if you gave her a lemon, she would make lemonade.”
Sadly, Pat passed away from cancer at the age of 52.

Sam is honoring her memory with The Patricia O’Hern Bridle Memorial Scholarship Fund at UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The fund will support biology majors of high academic merit who demonstrate financial need. In 2018, four scholarships will be awarded to first-, second-, third- and fourth-year students.

“If Pat was alive, I think we would have done something like this anyway,” Sam said. “She liked to help people, she was a very giving person and this honors her memory. I feel like I’m carrying out her wishes.”

While the scholarship celebrates Pat’s professional passion for science and her enthusiasm for helping others, it is also a nod to where she grew up and to where she and Sam first met as college freshmen. 

“Cincinnati is a place that was always near and dear to her heart,” Sam said. “She would be very proud to have her name on this and support UC and its students.”

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