WPC Class Notes
$1 million gift from Boals family provides a path to success
New scholarship supports students through graduate school
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hen Richard Boals (BS Accountancy ’79) was growing up, going to college was never part of his plan. No one in his family had done it. It wasn’t until a restaurant co-worker put the idea into his head — we’ll get back to that in a minute — that Boals started down the path that would lead him to where he is today. That includes a 46-year career at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and many years of service to ASU.

Boals and his wife, Maryglenn, recently made their second $1 million gift to the W. P. Carey School of Business. The first one, in 2016, was for undergraduate students; this one is for graduate students wanting to continue their educational path.

“Amy Hillman was telling me that graduate students were having a tougher time getting scholarships than undergrads,” Boals explains. “What largely motivated us was the idea that if you started in a community college and you had a pathway to an undergrad degree at ASU, and then a grad degree, it just allows people to have a more complete vision of what they’re going to do educationally and how they’re going to succeed.”

Richard Boals
(BS Accountancy ’79)
W

hen Richard Boals (BS Accountancy ’79) was growing up, going to college was never part of his plan. No one in his family had done it. It wasn’t until a restaurant co-worker put the idea into his head — we’ll get back to that in a minute — that Boals started down the path that would lead him to where he is today. That includes a 46-year career at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and many years of service to ASU.

Boals and his wife, Maryglenn, recently made their second $1 million gift to the W. P. Carey School of Business. The first one, in 2016, was for undergraduate students; this one is for graduate students wanting to continue their educational path.

“Amy Hillman was telling me that graduate students were having a tougher time getting scholarships than undergrads,” Boals explains. “What largely motivated us was the idea that if you started in a community college and you had a pathway to an undergrad degree at ASU, and then a grad degree, it just allows people to have a more complete vision of what they’re going to do educationally and how they’re going to succeed.”

Richard Boals headshot
Richard Boals
(BS Accountancy ’79)
In addition to financial support, Boals served on the boards of the Center for Services Leadership and the W. P. Carey School of Business Dean’s Council and is a member of the ASU President’s Club. In 2004, he received the Alumni Achievement Award, and in 2019 was inducted into the W. P. Carey School of Business Alumni Hall of Fame.

Eliminating inequities
Despite all that success, at heart, Boals still considers himself that kid who almost didn’t go to college. That’s why he’s made it his quest to make sure that anyone else in that position can see a path to an education. “I’m a big believer that education is the great equalizer,” he says. “If you think about ways to eliminate inequities, I can’t think of a better way than giving somebody an education and a shot at being successful in life.”

The Boals family funds community college scholarships as well. He believes it’s a more approachable path for many students, and with the ability to so easily transfer to ASU, it provides a way for students to take that first step toward a bachelor’s or graduate degree. “I’ve seen so many examples of young people who are underestimated, who can go on to do great things,” Boals says. “I like to think that people who perhaps, like myself as a youngster, didn’t see college in their future, will find their way there and will excel because they’re perfectly capable.”

Boals picks his path
Long before all his success, Boals was working in a restaurant as a busboy when a co-worker who was attending college at the time, encouraged him to give it a try. Boals wasn’t so sure he was cut out for college life, so instead, he went forward with his original plan to join the military.

He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, most of it stationed at Luke Air Force Base working as a data analyst. And most of it with his restaurant co-worker’s voice echoing in the back of his brain saying, “You can do it.”

Finally, about six months before getting out of the service, he signed up for classes at Phoenix College, where he earned an associate’s degree. In a serendipitous twist, the landlord of the house he rented as a student was the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, who offered Boals a job about six months later. By the time Boals graduated from ASU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, he was director of finance at BCBSAZ. He stayed until he retired in 2017, spending the last 14 years as CEO.

Inspiring future generations
Boals has had the chance to interact with many elementary students through his work with the Rodel Foundation of Arizona and on the board of Teach for America.

At one school, he asked the students what they wanted to do. “They all jumped up and said, ‘We want to go to college!’ These are the things that inspire you to make sure that kids have a path.”

And, he points out, all ASU alumni can help make that path a bit easier for students to find, finance, and navigate.

“People need to realize how blessed they are to have received a great college education at ASU,” he says. “I think we have an obligation to give back, and there are so many opportunities for giving so that students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get an education have the opportunity.”

Boals encourages alumni to focus on what element of their education at ASU inspired them most and see if they can align their giving with that. He loves meeting the students who were recipients of Boals family scholarships.

“Each of those students just may go on to be one of the most important scientists or business people, or who knows what they might accomplish as they go on in life,” he says. “For alumni to have supported that — there can’t be anything that would make one feel better or would accomplish more for a fellow human being.”

Learn more about the Boals Family scholarships: Undergraduate and Graduate