Anne Arundel couple Bryson and Carol Popham have created a scholarship fund for Glen Burnie High School graduates studying at their alma mater, McDaniel College, with a $160,000 gift commitment.

Beginning in the 2025-26 academic year, up to four $10,000 annual scholarships will be awarded, with preference given to students planning to major or minor in education. Each scholarship is renewable annually, for a maximum of $40,000 over four years. Recipients will be selected from McDaniel’s admissions applicant pool.

“Carol and I are deeply grateful for the enthusiastic response from both McDaniel and Glen Burnie High School to the creation of this program. We believe it will be successful and will continue our efforts to assure its success,” Bryson Popham said in a news release.

The Pophams graduated from the Westminster college, formerly Western Maryland College, in 1973. Bryson Popham, a lawyer and lobbyist, runs a government relations practice in Annapolis, and Carol Popham, who is retired, worked as a social worker for the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services.

McDaniel college staff and the Pophams made the presentation to Glen Burnie High School faculty on Sept. 25.

The scholarship fund honors Bryson’s mother, Mildred Popham, who taught at Ferndale Elementary School in Glen Burnie from the early 1950s to the early 1970s.

“My mother was a great teacher, and teaching runs in our family’s genes,” Bryson Popham said. “Even my wife Carol became a substitute teacher after retiring as a social worker. Almost everyone remembers a teacher who made a positive difference in their lives, and that was certainly true of Mildred Popham.”

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