Davenport Central High Senior Awarded $20,000 Medical Scholarship
Winiboya Aboyure, a Davenport Central High senior, is the latest winner of the $20,000 Dr. Thomas Anthony Dooley Memorial Scholarship, to help her become a medical doctor.
“We are all very proud of Winiboya Aboyure,” TJ Schneckloth, Superintendent of Davenport Community School District, said recently. “She
Davenport Central scholarship winner Winiboya Aboyure (center), pictured with her mother and brother. She plans to attend Yale University this fall.
has a wonderful future in medicine ahead of her, and we are thrilled to know that her career is off to a great start.”
Winiboya’s scholarship fund of $20,000 can be used at any accredited college or university. Planning to attend Yale this fall, she will receive the money at the rate of up to $5,000 a year over four years. Like all winners of this scholarship, Winiboya has shown a continuing interest in becoming a medical doctor, based on sound principals of vocational choice.
Each year, the Davenport Community School District awards the Dooley Scholarship to a Davenport high school senior. The student must be in the upper 10 percent of the class and have a minimum GPA of 3.7 after seven semesters of high school.
To select a recipient, the academic records of each applicant are taken into consideration, and then the students are interviewed by a panel that includes principals and other school officials, as well as a local university official and the president of the Scott County American Medical Association.
On her application, Wini listed her interests and activities, and those entries clearly show that she is a young person with her eyes on the future, according to a school district release. She has taken part in Teens for Tomorrow with the Quad Cities Community Foundation, as well as a global leadership program and a student leadership team through her church.
In an e-mail interview Tuesday night, Wini said: “I grew up enthralled with the criminal justice, so when I discovered forensics I instantly knew it was for me. I’m going to become a medical examiner because it combines my love of science with my passion for criminal justice
Wini Aboyure — who graduates from Davenport Central on June 6 — also earned the prestigious Gates Scholarship, to help cover the full cost of college.
reform.”
“I am hoping to specialize in pathology to become a medical examiner. Some of that may have stemmed from watching, and re-watching ‘Bones,’ but ultimately researching on my own solidified this path,” she wrote.
Though she has volunteered at several locations in the Q-C area, throughout high school Wini was a volunteer staff member at the Esperanza Legal Assistance Center in Moline.
“Just as with the criminal justice system, I am very passionate about immigration reform,” Wini said. “The Esperanza Center gave me a look into this as well as the ability to help members of our community.”
For college, she wrote that both “the academic and social communities at Yale felt perfect for a highly nerdy, passionate student. I am beyond excited to explore different classes and grow with such impressive peers,” Wini said, noting the Dooley Scholarship will help greatly.
“I could not be more grateful to be chosen, especially considering the rising cost of medical school,” she said.
Created by Davenport philanthropist Dr. Walter Neiswanger (1923-2007), the scholarship was named after Dr. Thomas Dooley (1927-1961), a caring author and physician who ran medical clinics to help the people of Vietnam and Laos, who died from melanoma at 34.
Dooley’s principal biographer, James Fisher, once said about Dooley that he “tried never to forget what this man’s toil and suffering meant to
Dr. Thomas A. Dooley (for whom the scholarship is named) died from skin cancer at 34 in 1961.
untold people of all backgrounds … that his spirit endures in acts of charity and mercy performed across the world by those he touched.”
“Wini embodies the kind of student we want all of our Blue Devils to be,” Davenport Central principal Jon Flynn said. “She works hard, is inquisitive, and she wants to make a difference. We are sure that she will work in the spirit of Dr. Dooley and will continue the legacy of excellence associated with this scholarship.”
In 1965, Neiswanger established the Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Memorial Pre-Medical Scholarship for Davenport high school students interested in pursuing a career in medicine. Neiswanger started the scholarship because he admired Dooley’s work in southeast Asia.
“During his lifetime, Walter gained a richly deserved reputation as a stellar philanthropist to causes great and small, both here in the Quad-Cities and beyond,” said Neiswanger’s obituary.
“He gave credit to his parents for this sense of social justice and the obligation of the fortunate to share with others in need. At his alma mater, Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, he established the Neiswanger 
Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy. In 1996, he was awarded the prestigious Cardinal Stritch Medal for “dedication of unselfish service to your medical profession and your community.”
The Dr. Tom Dooley Foundation has an endowed scholarship at the St. Louis University Medical School called the Dr. Tom Dooley Memorial Scholarship Program and is intended “to inspire students to follow the footsteps of Dr. Tom Dooley…in caring for thousands of refugees in Southeast Asia.”
The Dr. Tom Dooley Society of Notre Dame, an organization for medical alumni of Notre Dame, describes its mission as dedication to education, mentorship and global service to humanity.
On May 27, 1961, Congress authorized the issuance of a gold medal to honor Dooley and his work. President John F. Kennedy presented the medal to Dooley’s mother, Agnes Dooley, in a White House ceremony on June 7, 1962. Kennedy commended him for providing a model of American compassion before the rest of the world.
Wini Aboyure – whose father is from Ghana and her mother from Colombia – also earned a prestigious Gates Scholarship, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
While not a fixed dollar amount, the Gates Scholarship is a highly selective scholarship for outstanding, minority, high-school seniors from low-income households. Each year, the scholarship is awarded to 300 of these student leaders, with the intent of helping them realize their maximum potential.
Scholars will receive funding for the full cost of college attendance that is not already covered by other financial aid and the expected family contribution, according to www.thegatesscholarship.org/.
To learn more about Davenport Central High School, visit www.davenportschools.org/central/. To find out more about Davenport Community School District, go to www.davenportschools.org.
