A new gift to the University of Mississippi School of Education honors a donor whose legacy to the college and state run deep.
Nancy Finkelmeier is adding a gift of $50,000 to the Lindsey O. Todd Scholarship Endowment, named after her father-in-law. Her late-husband, Joseph “Joe” Todd, who died in November 2024, established the scholarship to support students from Newton County who are pursuing degrees in the School of Education.
The endowment, established in 2007, memorializes a man former Gov. William Winter called “one of Mississippi’s most inspiring and effective leaders in the field of public education.” Lindsey Todd had a 49-year career as a school administrator in the state, including being the superintendent of schools in Collins and Philadelphia, Mississippi.
After enrolling at Ole Miss in 1919, Lindsey Todd had to leave during his sophomore year to take care of his ailing father. He would later complete his education at the George Peabody College for Teachers, where he would also earn his PhD.
When establishing the endowment, Joe Todd said that his father believed that “education was the key to opportunity, personal fulfillment and societal progress.”
According to Finkelmeier, Joe Todd “revered his parents” and knew “education was his ticket to success.” Upon graduating from Ole Miss in 1956, he enrolled in Harvard Medical School, quite a cultural shift for the native Mississippian. Todd credited much of his early success to renowned Ole Miss professor Arthur Guyton, who authored a definitive textbook that’s still used in medical schools today.
“Guyton changed the trajectory of Joe’s medical education, and he got Joe into Harvard Medical School,” Finkelmeier said. “This was back in the ’50s. Coming from a small town in Mississippi, going up to Boston, it really changed Joe’s career as a physician.”
Following his medical school graduation in 1958, Joe Todd moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he met his first wife, Carole, five years later. The couple would have four children. Todd completed a residency in general surgery at the General Hospital in Cincinnati in 1965 and was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War as a surgeon in 1967 (earning the rank of lieutenant colonel and a Bronze Star). He eventually returned to Cincinnati and became a heart surgeon. It was there that he met Finkelmeier, who worked as an RN at the same hospital; they married in 1991. Todd retired from his practice in 2000.
Despite moving far away from his home state, Joe Todd never forgot his roots. One of the people who helped remind him was Billy Crews who retired as a UM School of Education development officer in 2023. Finkelmeier made her gift in honor of Crews who helped her husband grow the impact of the endowment that tributes his father. Crews also helped facilitate the donation of Lindsey Todd’s papers to a collection housed in the UM library. The collection includes documents about the Mississippi Education Association, education in the former Soviet Union, and the integration of public schools in Meridian, Mississippi.
“Billy continued to call Joe to keep in touch. Joe loved Mississippi, and at the same time during this period, Billy kept Joe abreast of all the political goings-on in Mississippi,” Finkelmeier said. “It became more than just someone from the School of Education; he became a real friend.”
A year before Joe Todd’s death, Crews called Finkelmeier and asked to see his friend one more time. And true to his word, Crews made the long drive north to visit Todd.
Todd never forgot where he came from. Finkelmeier realized this long ago, despite her “best efforts” to make him a Cincinnatian, she said, joking.
“Deep down, he was always a Mississippian.”
Because of that, Finkelmeier knows her gift to the university would have made her husband happy.
“When I talked to all of Joe’s kids and family members, it seemed like the natural thing to do,” she added.
Kelly Smith Marion, director of development for the School of Education, said Finkelmeier’s gift “not only honors the incredible legacy of the Todd family but supports future generations of educational leaders.
“True philanthropy reflects generosity, vision and impact — values embodied by both Nancy and Joe and demonstrated in this gift,” she added. “Through this scholarship, Joe’s passion and appreciation for education will continue to inspire and shape the future of Mississippi.”
The Lindsey O. Todd Scholarship Endowment is open to gifts from individuals and organizations. Checks may be mailed to the University of Mississippi Foundation, with the endowment noted in the memo line, to 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655. To make a gift to the endowment online, click here.
For more information on supporting the UM School of Education, contact Kelly Smith Marion, director of development, at ksmith13@olemiss.edu or 662-915-2007.
By Andy Belt/UM Foundation