In 1923, newlyweds William and Melanie Rosborough were among the first to purchase a home in a new community on the undeveloped fringe of Dade County. Two years later, the City of Coral Gables was incorporated, and the University of Miami was founded.
Melanie Rosborough was well educated, having graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in New York and earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Columbia. Soon after the University’s charter was granted, she applied for a faculty position, hoping to teach mathematics. Instead, Rosborough was invited to teach German, her native language, and she joined the faculty in 1927.
A stellar, impactful career followed. Known for her innovative teaching style—she was named the University’s Outstanding Teacher in 1966—Rosborough chaired what is now the Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. On Rosborough’s retirement in 1968, one of the towers that later comprised Stanford Residential College was named in her honor.
Rosborough was instrumental in laying the foundation for what would become the Faculty Senate, and she co-founded and was the first president of the University of Miami Credit Union, now University Credit Union.
As Al Rose, current president and CEO of University Credit Union, explained, Rosborough’s election as the credit union’s first president reflected her standing as an academic leader, mentor, and trusted steward of University life.
It was through Rosborough’s leadership, and the collective support of the University’s faculty, administration, and trustees, that the credit union took shape and evolved into a Miami-Dade County institution that has served the wider higher education community for nearly eight decades.
These two major strands of Rosborough’s career have now converged, with a gift from University Credit Union to endow and name the Dr. Melanie Rosborough Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award.
The award, administered by the Faculty Senate and first bestowed in 1988, recognizes either a single outstanding scholarly achievement or a lifetime of distinguished accomplishment in any area of research or creative activity.
The 2025 recipient was Benjamin Kirtman, dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the William Middlethon, III Endowed Chair in Earth Science. The 2026 Dr. Melanie Rosborough Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, endowed by the University Credit Union, will be presented in the spring.
“University Credit Union made this gift because tradition matters to us. Melanie Rosborough stood at the center of our founding in 1947 as a faculty leader, co-founder, and our first president,” Rose said. “Through the leadership of the Faculty Senate, we were invited back into that story, and endowing this award is our way of honoring her legacy and carrying forward the values of service, stewardship, and shared responsibility that have defined us from the beginning.”
Helen Bramlett, professor of neurological surgery at the Miller School of Medicine and chair of the Faculty Senate, said that University Credit Union’s gift helps strengthen the foundation of academic excellence at the University.
“This gift honors Melanie Rosborough’s legacy as a pioneering faculty member at the University of Miami, as well as the first president of the credit union,” Bramlett said. Going forward, the endowment will “empower faculty in research and creative endeavors that elevate the University,” she added.
In addition to honoring Rosborough by enshrining her name on the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, Bramlett also noted that the Faculty Senate has posthumously bestowed on Rosborough the centennial James W. McLamore Outstanding Service Award. The McLamore award recognizes service above and beyond the call of duty by a member of the University community.
Rosborough passed away in 1983, but her impact has been felt in the decades since, and not just in the faculty award that now bears her name or the Rosborough Tower of Stanford Residential College.
In 1962, she established the John and Melanie Rohrer Award in German, named for her parents, to recognize the outstanding graduating senior in German. Endowed in 1974, the Rohrer Award is presented each fall and spring semester and is one of the oldest such awards at the University.
A measure of Rosborough’s impact during her career at the University can be gleaned from a heartfelt thank-you letter she received from then-Vice President H. Franklin Williams after making her initial $1,000 gift to create the Rohrer Award. Williams wrote:
“As a member of our faculty since 1927, no one has given more of herself to our students or to the University. Over the years, you have dispensed kindness to our young people, faithfulness and integrity to our University, and contributed immensely to our community. … We accept this gift with deep gratitude.”
