The Senator Dan and Milena McConchie Scholarship Fund
Milena (Apostolova) McConchie ’95 and Dan McConchie ’93, ’95 established The Senator Dan and Milena McConchie Scholarship Fund in 2025.
The scholarship is for students attending TFAS programs, with preference given to students from Ukraine and Bulgaria to attend the TFAS International program in Prague.
Dan and Milena met during their first week as TFAS students in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1995.
For the rest of the program, the pair attended TFAS events together and took in everything they could in Prague. Afterward, Dan and Milena worked out an across-the-world courtship from the U.S. and Bulgaria, respectively, in a time when email was a rare and new service.
The following winter Milena came to the U.S. to interview for master’s programs, and Dan took her to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago at night and proposed.
The couple was married in Bulgaria near Varna on the Black Sea Coast, not far from Milena’s childhood home.
“I’m not sure I would have found a more ideal spouse outside of TFAS. Being a part of TFAS provided me the opportunity to connect with like-minded people,” Dan said.
Since their TFAS summer, Dan and Milena have been actively involved in the TFAS community. Dan served on the Alumni Council and the Board of Regents, and Milena served as the TFAS alumni chapter president in Chicago. They are longtime supporters of the TFAS Alumni Scholarship Fund.
Dan served in the Illinois State Senate from 2016-2025, where he was the Senate Republican Minority Leader from 2021-2023. He has given lectures at TFAS programs and events on responsible fiscal policy and leadership. In 2012, McConchie was awarded TFAS’s Kevin Burket Alumni Service Award for exemplary service and dedication to TFAS students and programs.
“Had I not participated in TFAS, I wouldn’t be in the career I’m in, I wouldn’t be married to Milena or have the kids we have,” Dan said. “TFAS fundamentally revolutionized my life.”
Dan and Milena established the scholarship in 2025 so more deserving students can attend transformational TFAS programs for years to come.
TFAS President Roger Ream thanks Dan and Milena for their continued support and friendship.
“Dan and Milena exemplify a commitment to teaching freedom and passing on the principles of honorable leadership to young students,” Ream said. “We are truly grateful for their continued support over the past 30 years.”
To make a gift to the scholarship fund, please fill out the form below.