About us

The Past

One person CAN make a difference.

In July, 1999, Dallas attorney Hank Alterman stopped for a quick meal at a local diner before meeting a client. While chatting with his waiter, Hank learned the young man wanted to attend college but simply did not have the funds for tuition.

Hank could not get that young man out of his thoughts. How he wished he could do something for him, something more substantial than leaving a generous tip!

Hank became determined to help as many local people as he possibly could. The Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation was born! Hank turned to everyone he knew—family, friends, clients—and asked for contributions to the Fund. After all, he wasn’t asking for money for himself. He was asking people to join him in the most important investment we could ever make in our community: the education of our young people.

Over the past 20+ years, Hank Alterman and his handful of volunteers have raised more than $700,550 to benefit 68 Dallas-area students. With this help, and along with their own dedication and diligence, these young people have gone on to become engineers, healthcare workers, social workers, teachers, policy makers, attorneys and more.

The Future

Taking it to the next level.

In 2021, Dallas philanthropist, broadcast journalist, and author Scott Murray received The Scholarship Fund’s inaugural Unsung Hero Award for his extensive service to the community. In December of that year, he assumed leadership of The Scholarship Fund, which then became the Scott Murray Scholarship Fund. 

Scott brings to the Fund a decades-long passion for helping others. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of local nonprofits to raise millions of dollars to help them achieve their missions and goals, and has received local and national awards for his work. He has served as host of numerous television specials and radio programs, master of ceremonies at many hundred live events and charity galas, and both keynote speaker and moderator at hundreds of corporate conferences and industrial conventions. Scott served for three decades as the EMMY Award-winning Sports Director/Anchor on the local NBC nightly news in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington DC markets. Today, he and his son Doug run the EMMY Award-winning Murray Media, an event audio/visual and video production company. 

Whether interviewing presidents of the United States, Olympic champions, or local scholarship hopefuls, Scott has always treated each person with the interest, respect, and dignity that define his character. 

As Chairman and President, Scott Murray is excited to expand the work of the organization’s first twenty years, forging even more partnerships in the greater Dallas community and sharing what has been accomplished—all with the purpose of supporting even more students in the future. 

Like every community, the Dallas area has big issues to solve. We need to access the skills and talents of all people to develop solutions. Scott Murray Scholarship Fund believes every motivated individual should have the opportunity for higher education. We hope you will join us in this grassroots effort to help our young people reach their fullest potential. The best is yet to come!

Bob Hopkins is a philanthropist, author, social entrepreneur, community volunteer, and college professor. He served for eight years as executive director of the Texas Neurofibromatosis Foundation, and has worked and volunteered in fundraising for more than 100 nonprofits and NGOs over the past thirty years. 

Bob is the publisher and founder of Philanthropy World magazine, and is the author of the 2019 book Philanthropy Misunderstood. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree from Kansas State University, and a certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from New York University. He has taught at the University of Texas in Arlington; Tarleton State University, a Texas A&M affiliate; the University of Indiana/Indianapolis; el Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey in el Campo Leon, Mexico; and other schools in India, China, Nepal, South and Central America, and Bangladesh. He is the founder of the PAVE program, Philanthropy and Volunteerism in Education, teaching children ages 7 to 18 how to serve their community and become a volunteer. 

Bob joined the board of The Scholarship Fund in 2020. He founded the Unsung Hero Award and chaired the inaugural gala to raise funds for the organization, allowing the Fund to grant more scholarships than ever before. As executive director of the Scott Murray Scholarship Fund, Bob plans to work closely with nonprofit and for-profit partners across the DFW area to increase the organization’s visibility and support an ever-increasing number of students to follow their dreams into higher education and a better future for themselves and our community.

One person CAN make a difference. We hope that person will be YOU.

Our process

Scott Murray Scholarship Fund places no restrictions on applicants with respect to age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and background. For more information or to begin the application process, contact Scott Murray Scholarship Fund.

Donors to Scott Murray Scholarship Fund can be sure their financial support is put to good use. Since its inception, more than 95 percent of all funds contributed to Scott Murray Scholarship Fund have gone directly to student need. All financial, organizational and performance information of Scott Murray Scholarship Fund is available upon request by contacting us.

Scholarships are given only on a semester-by-semester basis, and students are rigorously vetted each time they apply. Student requirements include:

• written application and in-person interview
• proof of family income
• letter of acceptance at the student’s selected college or vocational school
• three letters of recommendation

We encourage our applicants to maintain a minimum GPA of 2.75.