In 2005, Robert Browning Andersen MSW’65 quietly established an endowed scholarship in memory of his aunt and mentor, Louise Browning. Every year, he added a few thousand dollars until the Louise Browning Memorial Scholarship in the College of Social Work could generate a $500 scholarship. “Hardly anyone knew he was doing this,” says Bob’s daughter, Tracy Andersen. “This secret was one of his greatest sources of joy.”

When Bob died in 2013, the college learned what Tracy had known for years—that nearly the entirety of her father’s estate was to be directed to the scholarship in his aunt’s name. Tracy describes her father as a private person, not outwardly emotional. But when he spoke about the endowed scholarship in honor of his beloved Aunt Louise, “you could see the joy in his eyes. He was very proud,” she says. Tracy was determined to follow through with her father’s wishes. “I want to honor my dad’s legacy. It is my job, my responsibility, to make that happen for him,” she says.

Louise Browning BS’47 MS’49 worked as an elementary school teacher, and a medical records librarian at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. A crippling illness and lengthy recovery—and encouraging friends—caused her to rethink her professional choices. She returned to the University of Utah in the 1940s and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology, and went on to Simmons College in Boston, where she received a master’s degree in social work in 1951. Her self-described “interest in the emotional components of ills and in the study of human behavior” led her to serve as a counselor in the U’s Bureau of Student Counsel, and to join the U faculty, teaching social work and sociology classes. With reluctance and regret, she resigned in 1966 due to her increasingly incapacitating disability.

Bob described his aunt as the woman who gave him guidance when he needed it—a mother type. When things were difficult, Louise told him he could do greater things in his life. She turned his life around. She was the reason Bob went into social work and devoted his life to helping troubled youth. After he graduated from the U with degrees in psychology and social work, he served as director of the Utah Council on Criminal Justice Administration, worked for many years in the Utah Division of Corrections, and led Outward Bound outdoor leadership programs for youth. He was determined to help a new generation of kids make better choices. “Louise’s actions helped my father, who in turn, helped change other children’s lives for the better,” says Tracy.

Thanks to Bob’s generous gift, what began as a modest scholarship a decade ago will now significantly increase the scholarship dollars available for social work students at the U—a fitting tribute to the aunt who made such a difference in his life. The Andersen family’s kindness and generosity through the lengthy estate process is a study of human behavior that Louise Browning would, without a doubt, view as an additional and equally treasured legacy.