History

Vanderbilt University established the Bass Military Scholars Program in 2018 through a gift of $25 million from the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation.  The program recognizes the leadership traits and commitment to service embodied by current and former members of the US Military and seeks to impart those same values and ethics across the broader student body.

One of the program scholarships will be reserved for a former Navy officer and is named in honor of the university’s alumnus John S. Beasley II.  John Beasley served in the Navy and received his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt in 1952 and his law degree in 1954. He retired from Vanderbilt in 1999 after a 37-year career at the university.