The Gift of Education: Create Your Own Named Scholarship in Bioengineering!
Have you ever thought it would be great to create your own scholarship for students you think deserve some help on their way to success, but assumed you had to have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars? Would you like to honor an alumna/us, friend or family member by creating a scholarship in his or her name?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, you might be excited to learn that for as little as $250 a year, you can create your own named scholarship for undergraduate students in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, thanks to a new program launched in 2009.
You can now create a gift to be donated each year for four consecutive years that will be awarded to a student selected by the department based on academic merit, need, and/or service tothe department. The size of these awards can be as little as $250/year, but are also available in increments of $500/year, $1000/year, and $5000/year. Your scholarship can be offered to current students or designated to help recruit new ones. Scholarships can be in your name or in the name of anyone you choose, and we can help you mark a special occasion by letting someone who appreciates engineering or education as much as you do know that an award has been established in their name.
For those feeling more ambitious, we can also provide assistance in creating and building a permanent endowed scholarship or professorship. One example is the Seymour & Faye Wolf Endowed Scholarship in Bioengineering. Established in 2001 with a gift of $10,000 made by the United Jewish Fund on behalf of donors Seymour and Faye Wolf, the scholarship provides annual support for an undergraduate studying bioengineering in the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. Students selected to receive the Wolf Scholarship are chosen based on need, GPA, a personal statement regarding reason for pursuing Bioengineering, extra curricular activities and academic achievements.
"Our immediate goal is to provide scholarships for half of our undergraduates in the department," says Professor and Chair William Bentley of the program. "Our hope is that in a few years, every student who gains admission into the Fischell program will receive some form of aid."
We have already launched the new program with gifts from our own faculty and staff. Professor Bentley has established the Ruth and Jim Bentley Scholarship in Bioengineering in honor of his parents. Assistant Director of Finance Kevin Lepley and his family have established two scholarships: the James F. Lepley Jr. Scholarship in Bioengineering, made by Lepley and his parents James and Jaqueline, in honor of his brother; and the Jennifer Turner Scholarship in Bioengineering, made by Lepley and his uncle and aunt, James E. and Sandra Turner, in honor of his cousin. Each Bentley and Lepley scholarship provides an undergraduate student $250/year for four years.
"I decided to create scholarships in honor of two family members who had passed," Lepley explains. "I set it up as Christmas gifts for my parents and my aunt and uncle, because they're the kind of people who already have everything—this was a great way to both get them something meaningful and help our students."
Anyone interested in the bioengineering named scholarship program, contributing to a general fund or existing scholarship, or establishing an endowment can contact Fischell Department of Bioengineering Professor and Chair William Bentley at (301) 405-0379 or bentley@umd.edu; or Ms. Pamela Siemer, A. James Clark School of Engineering Clark School Director of Development at (301) 405-8289 or psiemer@umd.edu. Gifts can also be made online at www.greatexpectations.umd.edu/make_a_gift.html.
In the future, we'll be recognizing both the named scholarships and the awardees in issues of our newsletter, Bioefeedback, and on our web site.
