Sam Dunaway didn’t go to Western, but he’s donated about $1.3 million so some students can pursue higher education on the Hill.

Dunaway, who owns Dunaway Timber Company in Fordsville, has provided eight students with full-tuition scholarships for the 2009-2010 school year, said Tom Hiles, vice president for institutional advancement.

Hiles, President Gary Ransdell and some of the Dunaway scholarship recipients headed to Fordsville Wednesday.

Dunaway said he’s lived in Fordsville, a town with less than 600 people, since 1953.

He’s had some health problems, so he hasn’t been able to attend the scholarship dinner Western hosts in the fall, Hiles said.

The dinner allows scholarship recipients and donors to meet one another, he said.

Dunaway’s scholarships go to students from Ohio County and its surrounding counties, including Butler and Edmonson counties, said Andy Wagoner, assistant director of student financial assistance for academic scholarships.

Students can renew the scholarships as long as they’re not on academic probation, he said.

Hiles said he sat down with Dunaway for breakfast at 6 a.m. a few years ago and talked about giving to Western.

“He sort of started off slowly,” Hiles said. “And then, as he got to meet the students and got inspired by some of their stories, he just accelerated his giving.”

Hiles said Dunaway donated $100,000 in December.

Ransdell said people who donate to Western but aren’t alumni still care about Kentucky and the region surrounding Western.

“They understand the important role we play in quality of life and economic development matters,” he said.

Hiles said Dunaway isn’t looking to give highly competitive academic scholarships because those already exist.

Dunaway said he prefers to help out the students who couldn’t go to school otherwise.

“So many kids get offered three or four scholarships,” he said.

Most of the students who get Dunaway’s scholarships are first-generation college students, Hiles said.

Brownsville sophomore Seth Renfro, a first-generation college student, said the scholarship lifts the burden of college expenses.

“You feel like you work real hard all semester and you’re rewarded by having your tuition paid for,” he said.

Morgantown senior Kaitlin Embry said she probably would’ve used loans to pay for school if she didn’t have the scholarship.

Embry has visited Dunaway before, she said.

“He really just likes to put a name with a face,” she said. “I think we at least owe that to him.”