Scholarship was life-changing for Barnard

Bailey Barnard ’21 grew up in the small town of Keystone, Iowa, with an older sister who enrolled at Cornell. With two in college at the same time, it was going to be a stretch for their parents. But when Barnard found out she would receive Cornell’s Mary Bowman Seidler Endowed Scholarship, she knew she would join her sister, Morgan Barnard ’20, on campus.

“Without the scholarship,” she said, “I don’t think I would have been able to attend Cornell.”

Much like Barnard, Mary Bowman Seidler ’61 grew up in small town Iowa—Mount Vernon, to be exact—and attended Cornell along with her twin brothers. She says scholarships also enabled the three of them to attend, and their Cornell educations set them up for success. 

Seidler and her husband, Stanley, established their endowed scholarship as part of the Greater > Than campaign. 

“I want to see as many others as possible have the opportunity we had and that’s why I decided to put this into action in my lifetime,” Seidler said. “What is more exciting in life than being able to nurture young people? That’s the best investment that one could possibly make.”

Both Barnard and Seidler are pioneers. Seidler worked at Harris Bank in Chicago as a vice president when it was a male-dominated field. Barnard’s academic interests sometimes found her as the only woman in a class, and now she also works in a male-dominated field. 

Barnard graduated in three years with a degree in business analytics and a minor in applied statistics. During her second year on campus, Barnard and three other students competed in and won the novice division of the Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition. 

Her internship with Goldman Sachs translated into a job at the global firm after graduation. Now she’s attending the Disney College Program in Orlando.

“Being able to attend Cornell helped me grow as a person and pave both my personal path and my career path,” Barnard said. “That wouldn’t have been possible without the Seidler Scholarship.”