Support News in Brief
For Bart Aitken, BSIE ’81, the decision to make two gifts to West Virginia University’s Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering was rooted in his desire to perpetuate a spirit of support that was instilled in him by his parents. “My parents made it possible for their four sons to earn undergraduate degrees at West Virginia University, three of which were earned in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources,” said Aitken. “While neither of my parents earned such a degree, they knew how important it would be for each of us to gain this valuable education and earn a degree at a time in our lives when we may not have had the same understanding or placed the same value on it.”
Fall 2013
Aitken and his wife, Tamara, pledged $100,000 to the Department to create the Robert L. and Pauline Aitken Scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded to two students annually who have completed at least 75 percent of their junior industrial engineering courses and have demonstrated a commitment to excellence, achievement, and hard work.
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An alumnus of the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and his wife have endowed a scholarship to support undergraduates studying in his home department.
F. Gail Gray and his wife, Caryl, have donated $26,000 to fund the Caryl and Gail Gray Scholarship. First preference will be given to West Virginia residents with demonstrated financial need. Gray earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from WVU in 1965 and 1967, respectively. After completing his doctorate at the University of Michigan in 1971, he went on to an illustrious career, serving as a member of the faculty at the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. He retired as professor emeritus after 32 years of service. Read more at www.goo.gl/vd1UYk
Clarksburg, W.Va., native Maurice Wadsworth, BSCE ’51, and his wife, JoAnn, have endowed the Wadsworth Graduate Fellowship, which will benefit doctoral candidates studying in the discipline. The fellowship is expected to be awarded to at least three students per year, with at least one fellowship being given to a resident of West Virginia and/or a graduate of an accredited college or university in the state. Read more at www.goo.gl/9QoUuX _________________________________________
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In a separate gift, the coupled pledged $50,000 to create the Bart A. and Tamara Aitken Endowment. Funds from the endowment will be used at the discretion of the Department chair. Read more at www.goo.gl/gZq15u
The owners of McKamish, Inc., a mechanical contractor based in Pittsburgh, have endowed a scholarship to benefit students studying engineering at West Virginia University. Funds from the McKamish Endowed Scholarship will provide undergraduate scholarships for students in all disciplines in the Statler College. Read more at www.goo.gl/1DmRPg
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The Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources received a software bundle donation from ANSYS Inc., a global innovator of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes. The technology is being used for research and teaching in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Students in West Virginia University’s the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and the College of Education and Human Services will benefit from a $330,000 donation from alumni orders Robert “Bob” Orders, Jr., BSCE ’72, and his wife, Ann. The Charleston couple is creating the Bob and Ann Orders Civil Engineering Scholarship and the Ann and Bob Orders STEM Teaching Scholarship in the colleges where they earned degrees. Read more at www.goo.gl/584hFU
ANSYS’ Academic Partnership Program is designed to provide students, faculty, and educational institutions access to advanced simulation software. Students gain hands-on, real-world experience that can help jumpstart their careers, while at the research level, faculty and graduate students will be able to solve the same complex problems as those in the industry. Read more at www.goo.gl/AHM4Do
wadsworth
A loyal alumnus and his wife have continued their history of giving to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at West Virginia University with a gift of stock valued at $209,243.
richards
In September 2012, representatives from West Virginia University and the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources broke ground on the Advanced Engineering Research Building. A gift from alumnus J. Wayne Richards, BSME ’81, and his wife, Kathy, will be used to help make the building a reality. The Richards, natives of South Charleston, W.Va., pledged $250,000 to the Statler College Building Fund to help fund construction of the new facility, which is expected to open in 2014. It will house offices, classrooms, computer classrooms, a learning center, and graduate student space, as well as a clean room to meet the needs of high-technology learning and discovery. Read more at www.goo.gl/uLs2Yl