2012 - The Longyards

THE WINSTON-SALEM FOUNDATION

2012 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 2011 ANNUAL REPORT

NOURISHING

OUR COMMUNITY

DONORS

HONORING A

SON’S MEMORY PAM AND BILL LONGYARD

W

HEN PAM AND BILL LONGYARD’S SON TIEN BUI died unexpect-

edly at age 34, they decided to honor his memory by creating a scholarship to help other engineering students.

“The best way to preserve his memory is to have something that will last a long time,” Bill says. “A scholarship does that. It’s going to carry on for many years, and hopefully it will inspire many.”

In 2007, Bill and Pam established the Tien Bui Scholarship for a Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools student attending N.C. State University’s College of Engineering.

The scholarship is especially meaningful because both Bill and Pam know what it means to need help during their lives. After her first husband was killed in war-torn Vietnam, Pam gathered her sons Tien, then 3, and Hoan, then 5, and escaped with five other family members to Thailand in a small boat. They later arrived in the United States, where the eight of them shared an apartment.

Bill’s early years weren’t easy either. His birth parents were alcoholics, and he and his two siblings suffered malnourishment until they were adopted by a caring couple and saw first-hand how generosity can change lives.

Bill and Pam met while working at The Washington Post and eventually moved to Winston-Salem for its affordable quality of life.

A gifted student athlete who excelled in wrestling, Tien attended Reynolds High School and the Career Center in Winston-Salem and graduated magna cum laude from N.C. State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. He later earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. He was an expert in chip technology for cell and satellite phones, and he traveled the world working for Ericsson, Sony, and Texas Instruments.

“He could do anything,” Pam says. “He was a people person. He put people at ease.”

[ 2 2 ] N O U R I S H I N G O U R CO M M U N I T Y

Since it was established in 2007, their scholarship fund has helped five students attend the College of Engineering at N.C. State. The Longyards have met several of their scholarship’s recipients, and Bill says, “They are outstanding.”

The Longyards have also decided to include the Foundation in their estate plans, and they are Legacy Society members.

“We are not wealthy people,” says Bill, a retired high-school English teacher. Pam is a retired chef. “We want to inspire other middle-class folks. It’s not an elitist thing to be involved in a charity like The WinstonSalem Foundation. The Foundation gives us the comfort to know that our limited charity money is going to be invested and spent wisely; it’s going to go to appropriate recipients.”

For Pam, who knows so well the price of freedom, supporting education is a way to contribute to America. For those who receive the scholarships, Pam notes, “They are in a sense Tien’s children. They are benefitting from his work.”

the winston-salem foundation annual report

IN 2007, PAM AND BILL LONGYARD established the Tien Bui Scholarship in memory of their son, Tien, to provide support for an aspiring student in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to attend N.C. State University’s College of Engineering.

The Longyards are also members of the Foundation’s Legacy Society.

DONORS

HONORING A

SON’S MEMORY PAM AND BILL LONGYARD

W

HEN PAM AND BILL LONGYARD’S SON TIEN BUI died unexpect-

edly at age 34, they decided to honor his memory by creating a scholarship to help other engineering students.

“The best way to preserve his memory is to have something that will last a long time,” Bill says. “A scholarship does that. It’s going to carry on for many years, and hopefully it will inspire many.”

In 2007, Bill and Pam established the Tien Bui Scholarship for a Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools student attending N.C. State University’s College of Engineering.

The scholarship is especially meaningful because both Bill and Pam know what it means to need help during their lives. After her first husband was killed in war-torn Vietnam, Pam gathered her sons Tien, then 3, and Hoan, then 5, and escaped with five other family members to Thailand in a small boat. They later arrived in the United States, where the eight of them shared an apartment.

Bill’s early years weren’t easy either. His birth parents were alcoholics, and he and his two siblings suffered malnourishment until they were adopted by a caring couple and saw first-hand how generosity can change lives.

Bill and Pam met while working at The Washington Post and eventually moved to Winston-Salem for its affordable quality of life.

A gifted student athlete who excelled in wrestling, Tien attended Reynolds High School and the Career Center in Winston-Salem and graduated magna cum laude from N.C. State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. He later earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. He was an expert in chip technology for cell and satellite phones, and he traveled the world working for Ericsson, Sony, and Texas Instruments.

“He could do anything,” Pam says. “He was a people person. He put people at ease.”

[ 2 2 ] N O U R I S H I N G O U R CO M M U N I T Y

Since it was established in 2007, their scholarship fund has helped five students attend the College of Engineering at N.C. State. The Longyards have met several of their scholarship’s recipients, and Bill says, “They are outstanding.”

The Longyards have also decided to include the Foundation in their estate plans, and they are Legacy Society members.

“We are not wealthy people,” says Bill, a retired high-school English teacher. Pam is a retired chef. “We want to inspire other middle-class folks. It’s not an elitist thing to be involved in a charity like The WinstonSalem Foundation. The Foundation gives us the comfort to know that our limited charity money is going to be invested and spent wisely; it’s going to go to appropriate recipients.”

For Pam, who knows so well the price of freedom, supporting education is a way to contribute to America. For those who receive the scholarships, Pam notes, “They are in a sense Tien’s children. They are benefitting from his work.”

the winston-salem foundation annual report

IN 2007, PAM AND BILL LONGYARD established the Tien Bui Scholarship in memory of their son, Tien, to provide support for an aspiring student in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to attend N.C. State University’s College of Engineering.

The Longyards are also members of the Foundation’s Legacy Society.