Baylor University Announces $1.5 Million Gift to Scholarships

Angel family’s gift provides significant support for Global Mission Leadership Program

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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WACO, Texas (March 4, 2021) – Baylor University today announced a $1.5 million gift from Stephen and Lori Angel of Connecticut, and their children, Logan Angel (B.A. ’13) of Dallas, and Mason Angel of Venice Beach, California, through the Angel Family Foundation to support student scholarships within the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work’s Global Mission Leadership (GML) Program.

The gift, given as part of Baylor's Give Light campaign, provides additional support for the existing Angel Family Foundation Global Mission Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund, effectively doubling the fund’s endowment and creating enduring support in the form of annual scholarships for the program’s participants.

“We are truly humbled by the generosity of the Angel Family through their foundation,” said Jon Singletary, Ph.D., dean of the Garland School of Social Work. “The Angel Family Foundation has been a steadfast partner since the earliest days of the GML program, and we are grateful for their continued, transformational support through this additional gift to their scholarship fund. We believe in GML’s purpose – we have witnessed the impact that professional social work practitioners can have throughout the world in government and health care, in higher education and nonprofit organizations and through using their skills to provide advocacy, social services and education to their communities. To have partners like the Angel Family Foundation who can extend that impact through gifts such as theirs is something that we celebrate and give heartfelt thanks for, knowing the impact it will have in communities throughout the world.”

The purpose of the GML program is to contribute to Christ-centered international development through culturally informed education. GML achieves this objective through its scholarship program that identifies, recruits and sponsors leaders from communities around the world to study at Baylor. While here, these international leaders enhance Baylor’s global classroom by providing international perspectives to students and faculty alike. Graduates subsequently return to their home countries for transformational service.

GML provides program participants with a Global Mission Leadership concentration as part of a master’s degree in social work, a credential largely unattainable in many countries where the profession of social work is rare. The two-year degree program includes a foundation year of in-person classes and an internship in Waco, Texas, followed by an internship year in the applicant’s home country or within the country they choose to serve upon graduation. Alumni serve in 11 countries in areas such as higher education, combatting human trafficking, and ministry, foster care and congregational social work.

The Angels connected with the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work through Diana Garland, the late founding dean, during Logan Angel’s time at Baylor University and have been stalwart supporters since then. In 2009, when the GML program was created, the Angels established the Angel Family Foundation Global Mission Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund. Since that time, roughly half of the program’s students have received scholarship support through the Angel Scholarship Fund.

“The GML program is training leaders who are creating a transformational impact in the lives of people around the world, and the Angel family’s generous support of scholarships has been a key reason for this program’s efficacy,” said David Rosselli, vice president of advancement at Baylor. “The men and women who commit to the GML program are people who have shown that they can lead and effect real change in their communities. Because of the generous support of the Angels and many others, Baylor has the resources to seek out those leaders and help equip them to bring about change, build effective systems and train others as professionals and practitioners in their field. This is an incredible gift, and we are grateful for the Angel family’s decision to grow their scholarship’s endowment to provide enduring support for future generations of GML students.”

The mission of the Angel Family Foundation is to support education, Christian organizations, veterans, various children’s charities and many other worthy causes. Prior to directing the foundation, Lori Angel worked in the investments industry in institutional sales and as an equities trader. She served three years on the board of advocates for the Garland School of Social Work. Steve Angel became chief executive officer of Linde PLC and a member of the company’s board of directors in October 2018. Prior to that, he was chairman, president and CEO of Praxair Inc. Steve serves on the board of directors of PPG Industries and the Hydrogen Council and is a member of The Business Council. From 2009-2012, Steve also served on the Hankamer School of Business’s board of advisers.

Logan Angel currently serves as executive director of the Angel Family Foundation. Contributing to her family’s legacy of service, she has served since 2019 on the Garland School’s board of advocates, and is a member of the Junior League of Dallas. Mason Angel also is involved with the Angel Family Foundation, and works in the supply chain logistics, manufacturing and agricultural space of venture capital in Los Angeles.

The family’s gift provides momentum for Give Light: The Campaign for Baylor, the $1.1 billion comprehensive philanthropic campaign designed to undergird Illuminate, the University’s academic strategic plan. For more information or to support Give Light: The Campaign for Baylor, visit www.baylor.edu/givelight.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 19,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT THE DIANA R. GARLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work is home to one of the leading graduate social work programs in the nation with a research agenda focused on the integration of faith and practice. Upholding its mission of preparing social workers in a Christian context for worldwide service and leadership, the School offers a baccalaureate degree (B.S.W.); a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree available on the Waco or Houston campuses or online; three joint-degree options, M.S.W./M.B.A., M.S.W./M.Div. and M.S.W./M.T.S., through a partnership with Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business and George W. Truett Theological Seminary; and an online Ph.D. program. Visit baylor.edu/social_work to learn more.