Ruth C. Hunter

African-American Market Research Scholarship

In 1945 Ruth graduated South Carolina State with a Bachelor's Degree in Education. In 1951 she married John Hunter, also from South Carolina.  The couple lived in   Honolulu for two years while Hunter served in the U.S. Marine Corps.  During their time in Hawaii their first child, Barney Max was born.

The family moved to Chicago in the early 50s. Ruth began her teaching career in the Chicago public school system after giving birth to a daughter, Persephone [Pepper].

Ruth was a wonderful, caring teacher. She immediately began instilling in her students, from grammar school through high school, the power of excellence. Year after year, she was awarded the highest rating – Superior – from the Chicago Board of Education.

Ruth was a well-read, well-traveled, adventurous woman who enjoyed learning as much as teaching. Ruth had an inquiring mind. She was continually seeking new adventures, like a camel ride in Tangier and learning how to modify an Asian recipe to southern Black cuisine. She always kept abreast of current events and the political landscape.

Unfortunately, Ruth passed away before seeing her daughter's success in the (then unheard of) field of African-American market research. Pepper attributes her success today to her mother's adventurous spirit, which gave her the courage to pursue her dreams and create her award-winning, successful market research company, The Hunter-Miller Group.

It was because of Ruth’s pursuit of excellence, her inquisitive nature, and worldly attitude that she is honored by her daughter with a market research scholarship in her name.

Due to the low awareness of market research opportunities among the African-American students, Pepper Miller established the Ruth C. Hunter African-American Market Research Scholarship to expose and encourage African-American students to consider market research as a career.

So far, $8,500 has been awarded to three undergraduate students. In 2004, two Chicago based DePaul University students shared a $3,500 scholarship, and in 2006 one student was awarded a $5,000 Ruth C. Hunter Market Research Scholarship through the N’Digo Foundation.

Our goal is to award a $5,000 scholarship each year to at least four [4] African-American undergraduates and graduate students currently pursuing studies in statistics, sociology, market research or marketing. Applicants must carry a 3.0 or better GPA and have at least 25 credit hours of study in one of the categories mentioned above.

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