What does nearly every dad do when his little girl says she wants to take horseback riding lessons? 

            He enrolls her in riding lessons. 

Charles B. Wang

            That was how Kimberly Wang Dey got involved with horses at the age of 10, graduated to a former barrel racing horse when she was 11 and went on to become an amateur world champion at age 29 aboard Chipariffic in working hunter in 2000. She also competed in reining.           

            It was after winning the world championship in 2000 that Kimberly, who is a trustee for her father’s foundation, the Charles B. Wang Foundation, established two scholarships at the American Quarter Horse Foundation: the Charles B. Wang Excellence in Equine & Agricultural Involvement Scholarship and the Charles B. Wang Farm & Ranch Heritage Scholarship. These were the first $1 million scholarship endowments for the Foundation. Charles, who founded Computer Associates International in 1976, was an entrepreneur, visionary, author and philanthropist.

“Horses taught me patience, perseverance and responsibility,” says Kimberly, who now has two teenage daughters riding and showing.

            “Back when we endowed the scholarships, it was a personal goal to provide opportunities for students interested in horses or agriculture,” says Kimberly, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Charles B. Wang

            Charles died in 2018. Since then, Kimberly has taken the opportunity to tell scholarship recipients more about her dad and the reasoning behind the scholarships.

“I give them a little background on my dad, who was terrified of horses,” Kimberly says. “Because of his fear, my message to the kids is, ‘See how unlikely it is that you received this help? You never know where from where the support to follow your dreams will come – it might be from a man who never even rode a horse! As you go forward, pay it forward, give back when you can, anytime you can and as much as you can.’ If all of us as individuals each do as much as we can for our fellow man, it just makes the world a better place.”

Since 2001, the Charles B. Wang Excellence in Equine & Agricultural Involvement Scholarship has been awarded to 25 recipients for a total of $610,500. Eighty-seven students have received the Charles B. Wang Farm & Ranch Heritage Scholarship for a total of $1,087,500.