Callicutt Honors Mother With Creation Of
HPU Endowed Scholarship In Her Name
Pictured from left to right are Rick Callicutt; his parents, Barbara and Doug Callicutt; and HPU President Nido Qubein. Today, Rick Callicutt surprised his mother by establishing a scholarship in her name. The Barbara Frisbee Callicutt Endowed Scholarship will support students with a demonstrated financial need majoring in elementary education – a nod to the family’s invested interest in education.
HIGH POINT, N.C., April 12, 2018 – When Barbara Callicutt arrived for a luncheon at High Point University, she had no idea the event was for her. In fact, her son, Richard D. Callicutt, a 1980 HPU graduate, helped orchestrate the lunch as a ruse to surprise his mother with a special announcement: With a $300,000 pledge, he established The Barbara Frisbee Callicutt Endowed Scholarship in honor of his mother, a 1965 HPU graduate.
Barbara Callicutt, a Thomasville, North Carolina, native who received her degree in elementary education from HPU, had a distinguished career in the Davidson County School System. She is married to Doug Callicutt and has four children, seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
Her son, Rick Callicutt, a member of the HPU Board of Trustees, has hopes of supporting future students while honoring his mother. The endowed scholarship will support students with a demonstrated financial need majoring in elementary education – a nod to the family’s invested interest in education. In addition to Barbara Callicutt’s career as an educator, her daughter and Rick’s sister, Pam Hall, graduated from HPU and served as an elementary teacher in Davidson County Schools for more than 30 years.
“Attending High Point University is a legacy for my family as my mother, my sister, myself and my daughter – three generations – graduated from HPU,” says Rick Callicutt. “We hope this scholarship helps future students receive the same extraordinary education that my family has received.”
Rick Callicutt has a distinguished career in the banking industry of North Carolina. Following his graduation from HPU with a degree in business administration, he began his first bank job just four days later. He later joined a startup banking company in Thomasville, North Carolina, that became the Bank of North Carolina. During his tenure at the company, he served as compliance officer, chief credit officer and chief operating officer before becoming president and CEO of BNC Bancorp and Bank of North Carolina. Callicutt is now Pinnacle Financial Partners’ chairman of the Carolinas and Virginia region.
Earlier this year, the university honored his previous $1 million gift to support the 370-seat tiered Callicutt Auditorium, which is located in the $120 million Congdon Hall – home to the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy and the Congdon School of Health Sciences.