Ann 'Tunky' Riley Scholarships

Education students Jill Bastian and Anne Puidk Horan receive the first Walden scholarships.

In March 2010, Walden University announced the first recipients of the Ann “Tunky” Riley Excellence in Education Scholarship. Teachers Jill Anne Bastian of Longwood, Fla., and Anne Puidk Horan of Poetry, Texas, received scholarships to enroll in The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership.

The scholarships, which award up to $25,000 two times a year, are supported by the Riley Education Fund, named for the former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education Richard W. Riley. The scholarships are dedicated to the memory of Riley’s wife, Ann “Tunky” Riley, a teacher and passionate advocate for accessible, high-quality public education for all children.

“I am especially proud of this scholarship program in my wife’s honor, because it reflects the college’s dedication to lifelong learning and supports the many educators who stand out because of their superior contributions to their students, colleagues, schools and communities,” said Secretary Riley. “I am so pleased with the first recipients, Jill and Anne, and their impressive achievements in their classrooms and communities. Tunky would be proud of them too, I am sure.”

Bastian, who has enrolled in the MS in Education program, founded a service-based learning program at her school in 2004 that continues to connect students to their community through positive and meaningful volunteer activities.

Puidk Horan, who has enrolled in the Doctor of Education (EdD) program, founded the Poetry Community Christian School, which serves non-affluent families in rural Poetry, Texas, by educating students who might otherwise be excluded from private education due to cost or learning disabilities.