UW-Stout Endowed Memorial Scholarship reaches $50,000UW-Stout Endowed Memorial Scholarship reaches $50,000

   
“We are honored to have the opportunity to make this donation in the name of a Stout alumnus who died for our country,” said Dayton Ramirez, of Lone Rock, WI, the chapter vice president. “This scholarship will help plastics engineering students shape their futures and prepare them for a career in the field.”
   
The SPE chapter, with 36 members, was named one of two outstanding chapters of the year at ANTEC in Cincinnati in April. The chapter also received a Certificate of Merit this spring from the Stoutreach Council for volunteering with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Career Day and three local Science Olympiad events.
   
The endowed memorial scholarship was created in 2012 by eight classmates of John Abrams, to honor their friend, killed in action in 1968, in Vietnam. The scholarship will be awarded annually to an upperclassman plastics engineering major active in campus activities, a service member or veteran, or a descendent of a veteran. The endowment, as established, will live in perpetuity.
   
The first John Leon Abrams Memorial Scholarship was awarded in September 2012, just a few months after fundraising began and 50 years after Abrams’ graduation from Stout. The scholarship was funded through contributions from former classmates that were then matched dollar-for-dollar by Bob Janeczko from i2Tech.
   
The plastics industry also pitched in, with generous contributions of $10,000 by Roy Luther of Triangle Tool; $5000 from Peter Bemis of Bemis Manufacturing, and $1000 each from Snap0On Tools and Phillips Plastics. The Mold Making and Mold Design Division of the SPE donated $5000 that was matched by Bob Dealey. Another $4300 was contributed by the Plastics Pioneers Association, and $1000 each from the Chicago Section of the SPE and the Chicago Section Educational Foundation added to the total.
   
Committee members for the Memorial Scholarship are all 1960s UW-Stout alumni: Jerry Burke, Bob Dealey, Bernie Howaniec, Bob Janeczko, Dave Meiahn, James Rathert, Dave Reisinger and Brian Walker.

For information on how you can donate to the John Leon Abrams scholarship fund at UW-Stout, contact the Stout University Foundation, 715-232-1151 or visit www.uwstout.edu/foundation.