Setting the trajectory: Knott Scholarship Funds drive impact over a generation

Michele Ritter-Moore was hand-washing her father’s motorcycle the moment she got the call that would change her life. She answered the phone with soap on her hands to find unexpectedly a representative from what was then known as the College of Notre Dame of Maryland
on the other end of the line.

Could she come to the campus that afternoon for an interview? A full, four-year scholarship had just opened up.

It was 1981, and the Dundalk High School valedictorian was preparing to attend community college in Essex to become a nurse. Ritter-Moore had mapped out a practical future. Her parents couldn’t afford to pay college tuition, and she needed an education that would quickly lead to steady work.

“I put on my favorite dress, ran outside and told my Dad,” Ritter-Moore said. “We got in his car and went to the campus. I was so thankful. I just remember thinking it was my guardian angel looking out for me.”

The benefactors: Henry and Marion Knott, who founded the Knott Scholarship Funds more than 40 years ago as a way to empower and engage academically talented Catholic students to become leaders in service to their schools, parishes and communities. Moore was one of the first of 1,800 students who have received a Knott scholarship to attend a Catholic institution from elementary school to college. Each year, approximately 130 scholars are supported.

Mimie Helm, director of the Columbia-based fund, said the scholarships provide full tuition to students in grades five to 12 in Catholic elementary and secondary schools in parts of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. College scholarships cover full and partial tuition to Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, and Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

Through their philanthropy, the Knotts have provided more than $150 million in support of Catholic institutions and students. Contributions are made through three philanthropic vehicles. The Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Foundation is dedicated to strengthening communities in central and western Maryland. The other two – the Marion Burk Knott Scholarship Fund and the Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Scholarship Fund – provide tuition for high-achieving Catholic students to attend Catholic institutions.

A Knott Scholarship recipient created a financial aid fund for children who learn differently and who may need assistance with additional tuition expenses, now known as Knott CARES (Catholic Academic Resource Enrichment Scholarship Fund).

Henry and Marion Knott married young and started their family during the Great Depression. In post-World War II Baltimore, Henry Knott developed his first home on East Federal Street and went on to bring new and efficient construction techniques to the city, according to the family foundation. His career in business also led him to become president of Arundel Corporation, among other successes. Marion dedicated herself to raising their 13 children.

The faith-filled couple believed in the power of education and the responsibility of community members to lift up one another.

“Knott Scholars go to medical school, earn their master’s in social work and practice law,” Helm said. “We have documentary filmmakers, administrators and lots of teachers. Our scholars are everywhere.” 

At 18, Joe Robuck is preparing to study biology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana on his way toward becoming a doctor, perhaps an oncologist or a cardiologist. Robuck was awarded a Knott scholarship twice – once to pay for his education in grades five to eight at the School of the Incarnation in Gambrills and again from ninth to 12th grade at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn.

“I will forever be so grateful to the whole Knott family,” said Robuck, who attends Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville. “God gives us all gifts and it doesn’t stop there. It is our responsibility to nurture our gifts, so we can share them with everyone.”

Ritter-Moore double-majored in computer science and mathematics at Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she completed a bachelor’s degree. She went on to obtain a master’s degree in the same field from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Now 59, Ritter-Moore has a successful career in technology. She is a mother of two sons and grandmother of five who works as a software engineer. She recently moved to the Eastern Shore and is looking for a home parish, and she sometimes attends St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Pasadena with her family.

She said the Knott family inspired in her a deep sense of wanting to give back. Ritter-Moore volunteers at Sisters Academy of Baltimore and supports Hon’s Honey, a nonprofit near Curtis Bay that employs women who have endured trauma.

 The gift of her Catholic education gave her “the well-roundedness in life to make the hard decisions,” Ritter-Moore said.

 “God puts all of us on these paths, and he wants us to come back to him.”

For information on elementary, secondary and higher education scholarships, visit knottscholar.org

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