On April 18th, the Rocky Mountain Tigers presented our first Eye of the Tiger Award to Nancy Thompson Tipton, BJ ’44. She was joined by her son, daughter in law, and daughter. This is a new Mizzou Alumni Association award to honor an alumnus or alumna that exemplifies what it means to be #MizzouMade given the impact within the Mizzou and Rocky Mountain Tigers communities.
At 102 years old, Nancy is one of the oldest living alumni and is a #TrueDaughter through and through. She is part of a #MizzouMade family including her late husband Jack, BJ ‘47, her father and mother (with three degrees), her stepfather, her brother and many other relatives, including her great uncle, Walter Williams, the founder of the Missouri School of Journalism.
She is a diehard Mizzou Football fan and attended games for over 80 years, starting at the age of 10! As a child, she was a member of the Knot Hole Gang, a group of young Tiger fans under 16 years old that sat with the student section.
After graduating from Mizzou in 1944, she moved to Washington D.C. to serve in the U.S. Army in World War II as a cryptographer. As a “code girl,” Nancy spent hours behind the scenes of wartime intelligence cracking secret codes that led to the United States’ victory. She has been featured in many publications and media events. She informed us last night that she will soon be interviewed and featured on Colorado Public Radio.
She and her late husband formed the first Mizzou alumni chapter in Colorado back in the early 1950s. Nancy’s close family friend Don Faurot—the Mizzou football legend for which Faurot Field is named—was the chapter’s first speaker. At the time, the chapter had 25 to 30 members.
When we established our Rocky Mountain Tigers scholarship endowment in 2015, Nancy was one of our first donors, and she has continued to donate regularly to help provide scholarships to Colorado students attending Mizzou. With her help, we have raised over $150,000. We now have a scholarship named after her.
This is just a brief summary of this incredible #MizzouMade woman. To learn even more, visit the Featured Donors page on our website. Just scroll down until you see Nancy. https://rockymountaintigers.org/featured-donors/
