Established in 1992, this fund honors Minnie Lee Barrett Shepard, who was an Instructor and Assistant Professor of Classical Languages at The University of Texas from 1934 until her retirement in 1957. She died in Austin on July 13, 1979.  Mrs. Shepard is remembered as an unusually capable teacher of undergraduates in Latin language and literature. She impressed upon her students the value of time and was keenly responsive to every spark of interest shown by each student. She was quick to claim that her ability to inspire students in the study of one of the more difficult subjects of the college curriculum was largely due to the inspiration she herself received from her students. From this rapport of teacher and student, joined with her intense devotion to her subject, came her remarkable ability to establish vital points of connection between Roman civilization and important aspects of our heritage.

Mrs. Shepard received the Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1915. Between 1906 and 1927 she taught English, Latin and German in the Texas high schools of Channing, Luling, Bonham, and Cisco. In Luling she was the first woman superintendent of a school in the state. She was manager of the Free Textbook Division of the State Department of Education from 1919 to 1922. In 1929 she received the Master of Arts degree from Texas Technological College and was a special instructor in English at that institution in 1931-1932. She continued graduate study at The University of Texas and attended the American Academy in Rome in the summer of 1939. Her experience in both high school and college teaching equipped her admirably to meet the needs of undergraduate students. This story appears courtesy of The University of Texas Libraries.