Leaning on two decades of experience at the intersection of health care, finance and IT, Milan Talreja frequently shared commentaries with 21,236 LinkedIn followers. The common theme of these posts: empathy.

“Empathy is the gateway to all things good,” Talreja wrote. “Empathy is the key ingredient in any change with a positive human impact. It’s a muscle, and if not exercised, it will atrophy.”

Through a $25,000 gift, Neelam Hill, Talreja's sister, has established the Milan Talreja Memorial Endowed Scholarship to support students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Hill said she chose to support students with ADHD and ASD at Wayne State because her brother was empathetic to those with disabilities and understood the importance of promoting education in Detroit.

“Milan was a proponent of higher education and aware of its cost,” Hill said. “He had a strong passion for helping anyone who needed it and cared about helping people with ADHD. This scholarship felt like a great way to do that.”

People with disabilities who want to attend college can face difficulty in a system initially designed for people without disabilities. Hill said she hopes the award will help students overcome barriers and remind them of their talent and tenacity to succeed. Scholarship recipients, who may be full-time graduate or undergraduate students, may use awards for tuition, fees, books and on-campus housing.

The scholarship will be awarded in partnership with the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS). Nearly 12%, or 2,514 students, of the Wayne State student body use SDS services. Almost 40% of them identify as having either ADHD or ASD.

SDS aims to create an inclusive academic environment by promoting universal design throughout the university and providing academic accommodations, resources and assistive technology training to foster self-advocacy and success for students with disabilities.

Along with assistance from highly trained staff, SDS offers students 14 study rooms featuring white noise machines, adjustable lighting and computers with adaptive software for screen readers and enlargement.

“My brother would want students to find their next step and create a future for themselves,” Hill said. “This scholarship makes it easier for students with disabilities to do that.”

As Talreja once commented on LinkedIn, “Kindness is a state of being that needs to be cultivated and practiced until it becomes us. Just a little love is all we need!”