Legacy inspires grateful alumni and friends to create scholarship honoring a beloved Professor
For many people, creating an endowed scholarship at SLCC is a meaningful and lasting way to honor a cherished friend, a revered professor or valued mentor. By creating the Marlon Andrus Endowed Scholarship for Business, Roger McQueen, Ben Jones and others hoped to pay tribute to the fund’s namesake, who served in all three roles.
Marlon Andrus (May 10, 1938–January 10, 2018) was a beloved and exemplary instructor in SLCC’s Finance and Economics department who walked away from a lucrative role as a vice president and manager of First Security Bank for a teaching career. Working with college students turned out to be his true calling. During his 30-year career at the college he earned many awards, including the National Teaching Excellence Award from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs.
“In his 30 years teaching at SLCC, Marlon was much more than a wonderful professor,” said Roger. “He was a trusted mentor, a steady hand, a business and career connector, a strong advocate, a caring father figure, a dream maker and a confidence builder to over 12,000 students.”
Creating a legacy, one student at a time
Marlon’s zest for sharing his expertise drew students to him. The classroom served as a formal venue of learning, but his personal interaction at lunches and Friday night gatherings made the lessons more relevant. Because he understood how important connections are in business, Marlon invited senior-level professionals including Roger to his classes, teaching finance, investments and insurance concepts to his students. Roger also supported the leadership business seminars Marlon held at SLCC.
Ever mindful of giving his students practical business experiences, Marlon facilitated numerous internship opportunities with Northwestern Mutual, which ran a nationally recognized program, contracting more than 4,000 students from over 350 campuses annually. The company honored the Top 10 university teams and individuals for their performance as part of Northwestern’s annual sales meeting. For more than a decade, SLCC was a Top 10 Team and had 2 first-place interns—and was the only community college represented in the annual competition.
“Marlon was a big part of that success,” Roger recalled.
What Marlon treasured the most in his career at SLCC was his relationships with his students, as he highlighted in his memoir, 12,000 Students Later: A Seasoned Banker Turned Award-Winning Professor Shares a Wealth of True Stories. When he retired from SLCC in 2016, Marlon said his proudest moments came from encountering his former pupils in the community and hearing the words, “Your class changed my life.”
Ben is one of the students whose life was transformed by his mentored relationship with his professor. While attending one of Marlon’s classes at SLCC, he met Roger McQueen, a former managing partner at Northwestern Mutual Investment Services. Marlon encouraged Ben to pursue an internship with Northwestern Mutual.
“He didn’t know it then, but that was the exact moment that Marlon opened the door to finance as a career option for me,” Ben said. Ben participated in the internship program, and today he is the managing director and head of intermediary distribution at BMO Global Asset Management.
Marlon remained in contact with Ben and many of his other students after they left his classroom, up until his passing in 2018. He wrote countless letters of recommendation and was always available to provide career and life advice at a moment’s notice.
“Marlon taught me what an impact a mentor can make when they take a genuine interest in someone’s life and share in their successes,” Ben said. “Marlon viewed all of his students’ successes as his own and took great pride in helping us succeed.”
Continuing the work of a dedicated educator by supporting tomorrow’s business talent
Marlon’s dedication as a teacher and mentor to students inspired Roger and Ben, along with Tonya Andrus, Jodi Vawdrey and a few of Marlon’s other students, to create the Marlon Andrus Endowed Scholarship for Business at SLCC in 2007. The endowed scholarship has been awarded to eight business students thus far and will continue to support scholars in perpetuity.
When asked to share advice to scholarship recipients based on the direct mentorship given by Marlon, Ben had this to say.
“Marlon spent his entire life helping his students better understand personal finance and how to reach what he referred to as a financial comfort zone” he said. “It would honor Marlon’s legacy if recipients use this scholarship and the knowledge gained through their education to achieve their financial comfort zone.”
Roger was also asked to share some words of wisdom for the recipients of the scholarship so close to his heart.
“Be grateful for all that you have, dream courageously and live with purpose,” he said. “An education will help you discover that purpose.”
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