George and Helen Pratte Memorial Endowed Scholarship

Dr. John Pratte, the Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, established this scholarship to honor his parents George and Helen Pratte. This scholarship honors the commitment of George and Helen Pratte to education in general and to educational achievement in the Mississippi River Delta Region in particular. The descendants of immigrants that moved to the Delta as far back as 1765, George and Helen were both born in Ste. Genevieve County in Missouri in the 1920’s. They married in 1949 and moved to the delta region of Louisiana where they raised nine children. Although neither of them had college degrees (Helen would later go back to college and earn a bachelors and masters degree), they instilled in their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren a love of knowledge and an expectation of earning a college degree. They made great sacrifices to insure this, such as moving the family to a small college town so that their children could afford to attend the university much more cheaply. It is hoped that this scholarship will enable other students in the Delta to go on to earn their degrees and give back to the region. It is structured such that preference will be given to needy female students from the region currently defined by the Delta Regional Authority who are seeking to major in under-represented STEM fields.