The scholarship endowment was created with a bequest from the estate of James R. Burgoon. He was a lifelong resident of Westerville, graduating from Westerville High School in 1948. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and went on to receive a degree from Franklin University in 1959. He worked at Franklin for 30 plus years and became Vice President of Finance. He was active in Masonry and at the First Presbyterian Church of Westerville. He and his wife, Joanne, married in 1953. Joanne died in 2017, and James died in June, 2019.